'  SHE  WAS  A  STRANGER  IN  THE  TOWN." 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 


A  POKTRAYAL  OF  CERTAIN  PHASES  OF 
METROPOLITAN   LIFE  AND    CHARACTER 


BY 


JAMES  L.  FORD 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  LITERARY  SHOP,"  "HYPNOTIC  TALES" 
ETC.,  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  FRANCIS  DAY 


NEW-YORK 

GEORGE  H.  RICHMOND  &  CO. 
1895 


Copyright,  1895,  by 
GEORGE  H.  RICHMOND  &  Co. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

"SHE  WAS  A   STRANGER  IN   THE  TOWN" 

Frontispiece 

"TO    THE     SUCCESS     OF    A    CERTAIN    YOUNG 

LADY" 64 

"THE  WINE   CAME,   AND   CLOSE  BEHIND  IT 
LUMBERED  JUDGE  DOONOTHING "       .      130 

"I  DON'T  CARE  A  SNAP  OP  MY  FINGER  FOR 
MR.  HUSTLE" 196 

"THE  POP  OF  THE  CORK  AWOKE  MR.  EUNG- 
DOWN" 260 

"A    REMARKABLY    NICE    LOOKING    YOUNG 

WOMAN  "  .  .    320 


2061842 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 


CHAPTER  I 

AT  precisely  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon of  a  golden  October  day  a  young 
girl,  slender,  graceful,  blonde,  blue-eyed, 
and  alone,  passed  through  the  wide  door- 
way of  the  Grand  Central  Depot  and 
stood  for  a  brief  moment  on  the  side- 
walk, a  somewhat  noticeable  figure  in 
the  passing  throng. 

That  she  was  a  stranger  in  the  town 
was  made  apparent  by  her  clothes,  which 
were  unmistakably  of  provincial  cut ;  and 
it  seemed  to  the  passers-by  who  glanced 
at  her  that  her  face,  which,  by  the  way, 
was  perfectly  calm  and  composed,  ought 
i  l 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

to  have  worn  the  timid,  shrinking,  half- 
frightened  look  which  is  associated  in  the 
mind  of  every  story-reader  and  play-goer 
with  that  most  interesting  and  promis- 
ing of  all  romantic  characters,  the  village 
maiden  alone  in  the  great  city.  Standing 
in  front  of  the  depot  in  the  full  glare  of 
the  bright  autumn  sun,  she  might  easily 
have  passed  herself  off  as  the  heroine  of  a 
weekly  story-paper  serial  or  of  a  melodra- 
ma of  metropolitan  life.  And  curiously 
enough,  just  as  she  emerged  from  the 
depot  she  stepped,  unknowingly,  into  the 
pages  of  this  story;  for  it  was  at  that 
very  moment  that  a  well-dressed  young 
man  of  about  three  and  twenty  came 
suddenly  upon  the  scene — having  been 
evolved  somehow  from  the  vast  wilder- 
ness of  tall  houses — and  beheld  for  the 
first  time  the  slender,  blue-eyed  girl  who 
was  looking  about  her  at  the  great,  smoky, 
bustling,  crowded  city  which  was  to  be 
her  home. 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

If  the  young  girl  had  been  a  diligent 
student  of  the  drama  she  would  have 
recognized  in  the  newcomer  the  stage 
hero  of  the  commonly  accepted  type ;  for 
he  carried  himself  with  an  air  of  self- 
possession  and  complacency  thoroughly 
in  keeping  with  his  attire,  which  was,  to 
say  the  least,  quite  abreast  of  the  latest 
and  most  pronounced  styles.  His  features 
were  regular,  and  their  expression  good- 
natured.  There  were  lines  about  his 
mouth  and  chin  which  indicated  weak- 
ness of  character  and  irresolution,  and 
seemed  somehow  to  be  in  complete  accord 
with  the  silk  waistcoat,  the  gaudy  cravat, 
and  the  rings  and  other  bits  of  finery 
which  decked  his  person. 

A  stout,  rather  pompous-looking  gen- 
tleman with  a  distinctively  military  air 
accompanied  our  jeune  premier,  and  both 
stopped  in  their  walk  to  survey  the  vil- 
lage maiden,  who  was  standing  with  her 
satchel  in  her  hand  looking  up  at  the 

3 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

elevated  railroad  and  listening  to  the 
ceaseless  roar  of  the  city. 

"  By  Jove !  "  cried  the  younger  of  the 
two  men ;  "  there'  s  a  deuced  pretty  girl. 
Looks  like  a  simple  village  maiden,  I 
should  say.  Probably  she  's  just  got  in 
from  the  country  somewhere.  Upon  my 
soul,  I  'd  like  to  make  her  acquaint- 
ance. I  wonder  where  she  's  going  to, 
General  ?  Don't  you  think  we  could  find 
out?" 

"  She  is  a  pretty  girl,"  responded  his 
companion ;  "  and  I  should  judge  from  the 
cut  of  her  garments  that  she  has  just  es- 
caped from  the  parental  nest  somewhere 
among  the  hilltops.  But  look  here,  Dolly, 
my  boy,  it  seems  to  me  that  you  've  got 
your  hands  full  just  now.  Don't  start  in 
to  make  that  poor  young  girl  miserable 
before  she  's  been  half  an  hour  in  the 
town."  And  the  General  administered  a 
sly  nudge  to  his  companion,  who  was  now 
grinning  in  an  engaging  manner  in  the 
4 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

hope  of  rendering  the  young  woman  an 
instant  prey  to  his  charms. 

"  There  she  goes/'  said  the  younger  of 
the  two,  rather  ruefully,  as  the  country 
maiden  stepped  into  a  Fourth  Avenue  car 
and  disappeared  from  his  sight.  But  the 
grin  broke  out  afresh  on  his  simple  face 
as  he  saw  her  turn  her  head  and  cast  one 
glance  in  his  direction  just  as  she  gained 
the  car  platform. 

"  Caught  on,  by  Jove ! "  he  cried  ex- 
citedly. "Let  's  call  a  cab  and  follow 
her!" 

But  the  General  had  reached  that  time 
of  life  when  rapid  journeys  in  cabs,  and 
other  adventurous  phases  of  metropolitan 
life,  had  become  distasteful  to  him ;  and 
besides,  he  had  not  had  a  drink  since 
noon,  and  he  was  getting  very  hungry 
into  the  bargain.  That  made  three  rea- 
sons for  not  going  in  pursuit  of  the  car, 
whereas  the  young  man  could  offer  but 
one  in  favor  of  it. 
i*  5 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

The  three  reasons,  combined  with  the 
General's  superior  weight  and  age,  re- 
sulted in  their  adjourning  immediately 
for  luncheon,  the  younger  man  accepting 
the  other's  comforting  assurance  that  he 
would  be  sure  to  run  across  her  before 
long,  and  it  would  be  a  great  deal  better 
not  to  run  after  her,  but  rather  to  let  her 
seek  him  out. 

That  night  Dolly  Dillenbeck  sat  at 
a  round  table  in  a  cafe  on  upper  Broad- 
way with  his  friend  and  mentor  General 
Whiffletree.  For  some  moments  the  pair 
had  been  sitting  silently  smoking  and 
sipping  green  mint,  when  Dolly  suddenly 
broke  out: 

"  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  General,  it  seems 
to  me  that  there  's  a  screw  loose  some- 
where in  this  world  of  ours." 

"How  do  you  mean?"  asked  the  old 
warrior,  with  assumed  interest. 

"  I  mean  this  way,"  rejoined  the  other. 
"When  a  young  girl  comes  into  this 
6 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

town  a  stranger,  alone  and  unsophis- 
ticated, the  odds  are  dead  against  her. 
It 's  too  bad ;  but  anyway,  I  stand  ready 
to  do  what 's  right  by  her,  provided — " 

"  Right  by  whom  ? n  demanded  the  Gen- 
eral, suddenly  sitting  bolt  upright  and 
manifesting  a  decided  interest  in  what 
Dolly  was  saying. 

"  Why,  that  girl  we  saw  this  afternoon. 
I  've  been  thinking  of  her  ever  since,  and 
I  7m  going  to  get  acquainted  with  her 
somehow.  But,  by  Jove !  I  sort  of  hate  to 
do  it.  I  know  what  the  result  '11  be — 
young,  green  country  girl  meeting  a  man 
of  the  world,  an — well — an  experienced 
man  like  myself,  for  the  first  time.  How- 
ever, I  'm  afraid  she  's  a  goner ;  for  really, 
she  's  too  pretty  a  piece  of  goods  to  be 
neglected."  And  Dolly  settled  his  high 
collar  with  a  complacent  leer,  while  the 
General  finished  his  noisy  arctic  explora- 
tions among  the  chopped  ice  in  his  glass 
and  wagged  his  head  jocosely. 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"Ah,  my  boy/'  lie  said,  "I  'm  afraid 
you  're  going  to  make  sad  havoc  here  in 
this  town  before  you  finish  your  career. 
Better  be  careful,  though." 

"  But  after  all,  old  man,"  continued  the 
other,  "  what  a  shame  it  is  that  society  is 
so  constituted  as  to  make  the  woman  the 
sufferer,  and  yet  condone  the  fault  of  the 
man,  who  in  the  sight  of  Heaven  is  surely 
just  as  much  to  blame  as  she  is — if  not 
more  so !  Did  you  ever  think  of  that  ? " 

"Yes,"  said  the  General  dryly;  "I  7ve 
noticed  that  one  of  the  two  generally  gets 
it  in  the  neck." 


CHAPTER  II 

AT  the  period  of  which  I  write,  Dolly 
Dillenbeck  had  been  scarcely  a  twelve- 
month "  on  the  turf,"  if  I  may  quote  one 
of  his  own  pet  phrases,  while  the  young 
girl  who  is  to  play  the  opposite  part  to 
him  in  the  pages  to  follow  had  spent  less 
than  one  week  of  her  whole  life  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  presumably  knew 
very  little  of  the  dangers  which  beset  the 
innocent  and  simple-minded  ones  who  at- 
tempt to  swim  in  the  metropolitan  cur- 
rent. Dolly,  however,  was  town-bred, 
and  had  been  carefully  reared  in  the 
solitude  of  a  great  brown-stone  house 
situated  in  those  famous  preserves  of 
wealth  and  respectability  which  cluster 
about  Madison  Avenue. 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

His  father,  Jacob  Dillenbeck,  had,  in 
the  course  of  a  half -century  of  toil,  par- 
simony, and  narrow  thinking  and  living, 
amassed  a  fortune,  of  which  the  brown- 
stone  house  was  a  symbol;  and  his  only 
son  had  received  during  his  boyhood  the 
most  careful  training  that  his  hard-headed 
father  and  his  seriously  minded  mother 
could  bestow  upon  him. 

The  Dillenbecks,  father  and  mother, 
had  come  to  New  York  some  time  in  the 
early  forties  from  the  small  Pennsylvania 
town  in  which  both  had  been  born  and 
reared.  Jacob  had  found  employment  in 
the  store  of  an  old  Quaker  merchant 
whose  thrift  and  caution  were  proverbial 
in  mercantile  circles;  and  it  was  in  the 
household  of  his  employer  that  Sophia 
Lutz,  his  former  playmate,  was  installed 
a  year  later  as  maid-of-all-work.  Here 
Jacob  pursued,  with  characteristic  caution 
and  leisure,  the  courtship  which  he  had 
begun  years  before  in  the  hay-field  beside 
10 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

her  father's  house;  and  soon  after  the 
close  of  the  first  half  of  the  century  they 
were  married  and  set  up  housekeeping  in 
what  was  then  Greenwich  Village,  where 
they  resided  until  the  close  of  the  war, 
when  they  purchased,  with  a  small  por- 
tion of  the  wealth  acquired  during  the 
exciting  period  of  the  contest,  the  brown- 
stone  house  that  stood  in  what  is  to-day 
one  of  the  very  best  residential  quarters 
of  the  town. 

It  was  in  this  house  that  Dolly,  their 
only  child,  was  born  the  year  after  their 
removal  from  the  old  house  in  the  old- 
fashioned  and  democratic  quarter  on  the 
west  side  of  the  town ;  and  the  wife  gave 
devout  thanks  to  the  God  who  had  at  last 
answered  her  prayers,  and  vowed  that  she 
would  consecrate  her  son  to  a  life-work 
that  should  be  higher  and  nobler  than 
the  sordid  money-grubbing  to  which  her 
husband  had  given  the  full  strength  of 
his  manhood,  and  which — such  is  the 
11 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

force  of  habit — engrossed  all  the  thought 
and  vigor  of  his  riper  years. 

Long  before  she  had  weaned  her  boy  the 
mother  had  determined  in  her  own  mind 
exactly  how  he  should  be  brought  up,  and 
what  his  course  should  be  when  he  attained 
to  years  of  discretion.  Henceforth  she 
would  have  but  one  duty  in  life — to  fit  him 
for  the  part  he  was  to  play  in  "the  world, 
to  guard  him  from  all  contact  with  evil. 

The  Dillenbecks  took  no  part  in  the 
social  life  of  the  town.  Their  minds  were 
cast  in  too  serious  a  mold  to  permit  a  taste 
on  the  part  of  either  for  the  frivolities 
which  claimed  so  much  of  the  time  and 
attention  of  their  worldly  minded  neigh- 
bors. Mrs.  Dillenbeck  had  a  few  friends 
of  her  own  sex  and  her  own  way  of  think- 
ing. As  they  usually  agreed  with  her  on 
all  subjects,  she  had  great  confidence  in 
their  judgment,  and  it  was  to  them  that 
she  confided  her  plans  for  the  careful 
bringing  up  of  her  son. 
12 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

They  listened  attentively,  and  subse- 
quently agreed  without  a  dissenting  voice 
that  little  Adolphus  was  in  a  fair  way  to 
become  a  model  of  his  sex.  If  wine  and 
spirits  were  denied  him  in  his  youth  he 
would  be  sure  to  abhor  them  when  he 
reached  manhood.  If  he  were  brought 
up  in  utter  ignorance  of  the  allurements 
which  Satan  offers  to  the  young  in  the 
shape  of  theaters,  balls,  billiards,  gaming, 
and  other  iniquitous  works,  the  playhouse, 
the  ball-room,  and  the  dice-box  would  have 
no  charm  for  him.  There  was  no  need 
of  his  going  into  business  or  adopting  a 
profession.  Thanks  to  his  father's  half- 
century  of  toil,  the  son  would  inherit  a 
fortune  large  enough  to  enable  him  to 
live  without  working,  and  so  keep  himself 
unspotted  of  the  world.  That  was  what 
the  devout  woman  dreaded  more  than  any- 
thing else — the  contamination  of  worldly 
minded  and  evil  associates. 

Quietly  the  years  rolled  by  in  the  big 

13 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

brown  house.  Nurses,  governesses,  and 
tutors  came  and  went  until  Dolly  reached 
the  age  of  thirteen,  when  it  had  been  de- 
cided six  years  before  that  he  was  to  be 
sent  to  school.  Mrs.  Dillenbeck  herself 
took  him  to  Dr.  Euclid's  small  and  ex- 
ceedingly exclusive  academy  for  the  train- 
ing of  the  young,  and  left  him  clinging  to 
his  desk  and  looking  with  frightened  eyes 
at  the  youngsters  about  him,  who  were 
grinning  in  anticipation  of  the  fun  they 
would  have  with  him  at  recess.  That 
hour  of  recreation  had  scarcely  begun 
when  the  new  boy's  howls  brought  the 
Doctor  on  a  quick  run  to  the  back  yard, 
which  served  as  a  playground ;  and  poor 
Dolly  was  dragged  from  the  midst  of  a 
circle  of  active  young  lads  who  had  opened 
a  fusillade  on  him  with  their  pea-shooters 
and  were  dancing  about  him  in  imitation 
of  Indian  warriors  torturing  a  captive. 

"What  right  have  you  to  pitch  upon 
young  Dillenbeck?"  demanded  the  prin- 
14 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

eipal,  with  as  much  severity  as  he  dared 
assume  toward  pupils  who  were  worth  a 
hundred  dollars  apiece  to  him  every  six 
months  in  the  year. 

"  What  right  has  he  to  wear  long  curls 
like  a  girl ! "  retorted  an  exclusive  young 
gentleman  who  was  accustomed  to  hear 
his  father  grumble  about  the  Doctor's 
charges  and  intimate  that  he  regarded 
the  reverend  instructor  as  little  better 
than  a  humbug. 

To  the  school-boy  mind  this  reply 
seemed  to  be  freighted  with  unanswer- 
able logic ;  and  from  that  moment  until 
the  end  of  the  week,  when  Dolly's  school- 
days ended  forever,  he  was  regarded,  even 
by  the  most  sedate  and  decorous  of  Dr. 
Euclid's  pupils,  as  a  legitimate  butt  for 
every  bit  of  practical  humor  that  intelli- 
gent and  rebellious  youngsters  are  capable 
of  perpetrating. 

For  a  few  days  the  unhappy  boy  en- 
dured the  buffetings  of  his  tormentors 
15 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

with  a  dumb  meekness  that  was  akin  to 
courage,  and  that  in  the  end  might  have 
won  for  him  the  tolerance  and  then  the  re- 
gard of  his  mates  if  it  had  not  been  that  the 
story  of  his  tribulations,  concerning  which 
the  child  had  breathed  not  a  single  word 
at  home,  reached  his  mother's  ears  in  some 
roundabout  way  and  caused  her  to  write 
an  indignant  letter  to  the  Doctor,  calling 
him  to  account  because  of  what  she  called 
his  inhuman  treatment  of  her  only  son, 
who,  she  assured  him,  should  never  cross 
his  threshold  again. 

That  Dolly's  unhappiness  was  the  direct 
and  legitimate  result  of  her  own  unreason- 
ing folly  in  rearing  him  as  if  he  had  been 
a  delicate  girl  instead  of  the  fairly  robust 
boy  that  he  was,  never  entered  Mrs.  Dil- 
lenbeck's  narrow  mind.  On  the  contrary, 
she  became  more  confident  than  she  ever 
had  been  before  that  the  young  could  not 
be  too  carefully  guarded  from  the  world, 
and  she  resolved  that  his  education  should 
16 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

be  continued  at  home  under  restrictions 
even  more  severe  than  those  which  she 
had  originally  intended. 

It  was  an  awful  mistake  to  send  him  to 
school  at  all.  If  it  had  not  been  for  his 
father's  persistence  she  never  would  have 
agreed  to  it.  Her  son  was  not  fitted  to 
associate  with  the  evil-minded  little  ruf- 
fians who,  she  was  sure,  had  deliberately 
intended  to  kill  him,  and  from  whose 
clutches  he  had  fortunately  been  rescued. 
She  shuddered  as  she  thought  of  the  pos- 
sible results  of  constant  companionship 
with  those  little  wretches. 

And  so  the  old  tutor  was  recalled,  and  in 
the  stillness  of  the  great  house  Adolphus 
Dillenbeck  listlessly  acquired  an  almost 
useless  education.  The  precise  old  ped- 
agogue who  taught  him — Mrs.  Dillen- 
beck had  no  faith  in  young  men,  who 
were  sure  to  be  worldly  minded  and  full 
of  modern  irreverence — had  no  thought 
of  anything  that  was  not  contained  with- 
2  17 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

in  the  covers  of  the  dry  text-books  with 
which  the  boy  worked;  and  long  before 
his  period  of  tutelage  was  ended,  books 
had  become  to  him  nothing  less  than  an 
abhorrence.  All  novels  and  story-books, 
which  might  have  interested  him  in  some- 
thing and  quickened  his  imagination,  were 
carefully  kept  from  him,  because,  as  his 
mother  remarked,  they  "led  down  to 
death  and  destruction";  and  for  other 
equally  logical  reasons  he  was  never 
taken  to  any  of  the  places  of  interest  in  or 
near  the  city,  or  taught  that  there  was  any 
real  connection  between  his  dreary  lesson- 
books  and  the  world  in  which  he  lived. 

So  it  happened  that  so  long  as  his 
parents  lived  Dolly  was  kept  in  a  dull, 
narrow  path,  on  either  side  of  which  the 
dreary  hedges  of  needless  and  exasperat- 
ing precaution  rose  high  above  his  head, 
shutting  him  out  from  nearly  all  the 
cheering,  healthful  sunshine  of  life  that 
is  the  rightful  heritage  of  youth. 
18 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

One  evening,  soon  after  he  had  entered 
upon  his  seventeenth  year,  he  went  with 
his  parents  to  pay  a  visit  to  some  friends 
who  lived  in  a  remote  quarter  of  the 
town;  and  as  the  carriage  rolled  along 
upper  Broadway,  Dolly  looked  out  in 
wonder  at  the  gay,  brilliantly  lighted 
street,  through  which  crowds  of  well- 
dressed,  happy-looking  people  were  hur- 
rying to  places  of  amusement  or  strolling 
in  idle  ease.  He  saw  the  wide-open  door 
of  a  famous  playhouse,  with  a  long  line 
of  men  crowding  up  to  the  box-office ;  he 
noticed  the  groups  that  stood  about  the 
doorways  of  the  hotels  and  cafes,  and 
the  stragglers  who  paused  to  inspect  the 
beautiful  things  in  the  show-windows,  or 
to  enter  the  stores  to  make  purchases  for 
Christmas,  which  was  close  at  hand.  And 
just  as  the  carriage  turned  into  a  side 
street,  Dolly's  glance  fell  upon  a  couple 
who  were  seated  by  the  corner  window  of 
a  fashionable  restaurant.  The  man  was 

19 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

young  and  well  dressed,  and  appeared  to 
be  on  thoroughly  good  terms  with  him- 
self as  well  as  with  his  companion,  who 
seemed  to  the  dazzled  young  Dillenbeck 
to  be  the  most  brilliantly  beautiful  and 
stunning  young  woman  that  his  eyes  had 
ever  rested  upon.  She  wore  a  large  hat 
with  an  ostrich  plume  in  it,  and  her  face 
was  sparkling  with  animation  as  she 
leaned  across  the  table  and  talked  to 
the  young  man  opposite  her.  There  was 
a  smile  on  his  face  as  he  listened,  and 
Dolly  noticed  that  he  held  in  his  hand  a 
bottle,  and  was  carefully  filling  with  some 
bright,  sparkling  fluid  the  tall  glass  that 
stood  at  the  young  girl's  plate. 

That  one  glimpse  of  Broadway  made  a 
deeper  impression  on  the  boy's  brain  than 
anything  that  had  come  into  his  life  since 
the  single  week  of  unhappiness  that  consti- 
tuted his  school-days.  He  remembered 
it  as  a  confused  vision  of  shop-windows, 
electric  lights,  and  people ;  but  the  couple 
20 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

in  the  restaurant  window,  the  young  man 
pouring  the  wine  into  the  glass  of  the  su- 
perb creature  with  the  big  ostrich  plume 
waving  above  her  laughing  face,  formed 
a  picture  that  remained  in  his  memory 
for  many  a  long  day — a  picture  in  which 
not  a  single  line  or  dot  was  confused  or 
blurred. 

From  some  remote,  easy-going  Dutch 
ancestor  there  had  come  down  to  this 
boy  through  generations  of  thrifty,  hard- 
headed  forebears  a  taste  for  the  pleasures 
of  life  which  he  had  never  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  gratify ;  and  young  as  he  was,  his 
soul  longed  for  those  bright,  intoxicating 
phases  of  existence  of  which  he  had  ob- 
tained a  single  fleeting  glimpse  through 
the  plate-glass  window  of  his  mother's 
carriage  as  it  whirled  swiftly  through  the 
brightly  lighted  streets.  He  used  to  lie 
awake  at  night  and  think  of  the  couple 
in  the  restaurant  window,  resolving  that 
in  the  years  to  come  he  would  sit  there 

2*  21 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

too,  and  fill  high  the  glass  of  a  beautiful 
woman,  whose  laughing  face  would  look 
up  at  his  from  beneath  the  shade  of  a  big 
hat  with  a  nodding,  waving  plume. 

In  his  dreams  he  saw  no  other  face  but 
hers.  Her  companion  was  always  himself, 
grown  to  manhood  and  richly  clothed, 
pouring  a  foaming  draft  into  the  tall 
wine-glass,  with  the  whole  world  looking 
in  upon  him  through  the  great  sheets  of 
plate-glass,  envying  him  his  good  fortune, 
agape  at  his  audacity. 

Dolly  had  not  reached  his  majority 
when  his  mother  died,  devoutly  thankful 
that  she  had  been  able  to  keep  her 
boy  from  wine-bibbing,  novel-reading, 
theater-going,  and  all  the  other  worldly 
amusements  which  lead  down  to  death 
and  destruction ;  and  a  few  months  later 
old  Jacob  Dillenbeck  went  the  way  of  all 
flesh,  cheered  by  the  thought  of  the  bank- 
account  and  rent-roll  which  were  a  living, 
tangible  proof  that  he  had  not  allowed 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  single  talent  intrusted  to  him  to  rust 
in  a  napkin. 

When  the  affairs  of  the  dead  merchant 
were  settled,  Dolly,  the  sole  heir,  found 
himself  the  possessor  of  a  fortune  of  more 
than  half  a  million  dollars,  all  admirably 
well  invested.  As  he  had  never  before 
had  a  dollar  that  he  had  not  been  com- 
pelled to  account  for,  he  had  extremely 
vague  notions  of  the  purchasing  power 
of  such  a  large  sum,  although  he  was 
morally  sure  that  it  was  sufficient  to 
maintain  him  in  luxury  for  the  rest  of 
his  life. 

It  was  at  Cold  Brook  Farm  that  his 
father  died ;  and  acting  on  the  advice  of 
the  executors  of  the  estate,  Dolly  remained 
in  the  country  until  late  in  the  fall;  for 
he  decided  at  once  to  rent  the  big  brown- 
stone  house  in  New  York,  and  secure 
lodgings  for  himself  in  some  more  lively 
and  agreeable  part  of  the  city.  Life,  with 
all  its  glorious  possibilities  of  adventure 


DOLLY  D1LLENBECK 

and  enjoyment,  was  opening  before  him ; 
and  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  bright 
lights  of  Broadway  which  still  shone  in 
his  memory  burned  all  the  more  brightly 
because  he  was  so  soon  to  join  the  throng 
that  dwelt  within  their  rays. 

He  wondered,  as  he  walked  or  drove 
along  the  shady  country  roads,  whether 
the  couple  that  he  had  seen  in  the 
restaurant  window  were  still  to  be  found 
there  feasting  and  drinking  and  making 
merry.  Perhaps  he  would  be  able  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  that  showy 
young  creature,  who  was  in  all  proba- 
bility an  actress,  or  something  equally 
fascinating. 

There  were  the  theaters,  too.  He  had 
never  seen  the  inside  of  one  in  his  life ; 
but  he  had  seen  posters  on  the  fences  and 
in  show-windows  which  had  conveyed  to 
his  mind  certain  inflamed  ideas  of  the 
attractions  which  they  had  to  offer.  He 
would  go  to  a  play  the  very  night  of  his 
24 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

arrival  in  the  city,  and  that  would  be 
within  a  few  short  days. 

Above  all,  he  determined  that  his  life 
should  be  spent  not  in  the  quiet  of  a 
respectable  side  street,  but  in  the  very 
midst  of  the  gay  life  for  which  his  soul 
yearned. 


CHAPTER  III 

So  it  happened  that  Dolly  turned  up 
one  bright  afternoon  on  upper  Broadway, 
walked  into  a  large  and  gaudy  hotel,  and 
inscribed  the  name  "  T.  Adolphus  Dillen- 
beck"  on  the  register  with  an  air  that 
gave  the  quick-witted  room-clerk  a  fairly 
correct  idea  as  to  what  manner  of  man  he 
was.  Having  become  a  guest  of  the  house, 
Dolly's  first  act  was  to  ring  his  bell  and 
order  a  bottle  of  champagne. 

It  was  several  months  after  this  that 
he  made  the  acquaintance  of  General 
Whiffletree,  whom  he  had  often  seen  in 
the  different  saloons  and  cafes  which  he 
frequented,  and  whose  sayings  and  doings 
were  chronicled  with  much  frequency  in 
the  journals  of  the  day,  coupled  with  com- 
26 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

plimentary  remarks  about  "that  prince 
of  good  fellows,"  or  "  that  well-known  wit 
and  raconteur"  or  "that  genial  veteran 
and  peerless  after-dinner  talker."  Dolly 
had  noticed — for  his  brain  did  work  in  a 
way — that  while  the  leading  newspapers 
of  the  town  differed  with  one  another  in 
regard  to  the  faults  and  virtues  of  the 
dominant  men  of  the  day,  they  were 
unanimous  in  their  praise  of  General 
Whiffletree,  a  fact  which  he  deemed  con- 
vincing proof  that  the  General  was  the 
wittiest  and  cleverest,  as  well  as  the 
most  distinguished  and  in  every  respect 
admirable  man,  in  New  York. 

It  was  therefore  with  feelings  of  in- 
tense gratification  that  Dolly  found  him- 
self seated  across  the  table  from  the 
renowned  warrior  in  the  hotel  cafe  one 
cheerless  winter  afternoon,  in  company 
with  a  gentleman  named  Judge  Doonoth- 
ing,  whose  acquaintance  he  had  made 
since  his  arrival  in  the  city,  and  who 

27 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

enjoyed  in  the  contemporary  press  a 
reputation  only  second  to  that  of  the 
General  for  cleverness  and  bonhomie. 

Now  General  Whiffletree  had  had  his 
eye  on  Dillenbeck  for  some  weeks,  and 
the  acquaintance  promised  a  great  deal 
more  for  him  than  for  the  younger  man ; 
so  he  greeted  him  with  an  air  of  pompous, 
ceremonious  politeness  of  the  kind  usually 
attributed  by  reporters  to  "  gentlemen  of 
the  old  school,"  in  acknowledgment  of 
which  Dolly  bowed  profoundly,  and  then 
with  some  nervousness  invited  both  gentle- 
men to  sit  down  and  join  him. 

Judge  Doonothing,  who  was  also  a 
gentleman  of  the  old  school,  because  he 
had  an  enormous  paunch  and  a  ponderous 
manner,  and  wore  a  pair  of  gold-rimmed 
eye-glasses  astride  a  red  and  bulbous  nose, 
had  no  objection  to  sitting  down  with  his 
young  friend  for  a  moment  or  two ;  and 
by  a  fortunate  chance  the  General  found 
himself  at  liberty  for  a  short  period  also. 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Dolly  proudly  tapped  the  bell  and  bade 
the  waiter  bring  a  bottle  of  Extra  Dry, 
"and  see  that  it  's  cold." 

"  I  could  have  told  you  as  much,  Gen- 
eral," remarked  the  Judge,  with  an  air  of 
resignation.  "This  young  man  will  al- 
ways insist  upon  buying  wine,  no  matter 
what  happens." 

"  Ah ! "  said  the  General,  approvingly, 
"it  is  gratifying  indeed  to  meet  young 
men  of  the  present  generation  who  have 
the  tastes  of  gentlemen.  In  our  salad 
days,  Judge,  no  gentleman  ever  thought 
of  offering  such  a  vulgar  drink  as  beer  to 
his  friends  about  the  festal  board.  If 
I  were  to  offer  a  word  of  advice  to  Mr. 
Dillenbeck — and  it  seems  to  me  that  he 
hardly  needs  it — it  would  be  to  stick  to 
champagne,  the  drink  for  gentlemen,  sir." 

Little  did  General  Whiffletree  think  of 

the  effect  that  his  words  had  on  the  young 

man  for  whom  they  were  intended.    Dolly 

had  come  over  to  upper  Broadway  with 

29 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

no  purpose  save  that  of  enjoyment;  but 
during  the  weeks  which  had  elapsed  since 
his  arrival  he  had  learned  from  his  inter- 
course with  the  class  that  fills  the  cafe's 
and  patrols  the  sidewalks  of  that  part  of 
the  town  that  there  was  one  career  open 
to  him  in  which  he  might  reasonably 
hope  to  win  distinction ;  and  the  remark 
of  General  Whiffletree — peerless  wit, 
genial  raconteur,  popular  veteran,  etc. — 
settled  at  once  a  half-formed  resolution 
that  had  been  gathering  strength  in  his 
mind  ever  since  he  first  entered  upon 
his  inheritance. 

In  the  brief  period  of  time  which 
elapsed  between  the  ordering  of  the 
champagne  and  its  appearance  on  the 
table,  Dolly  Dillenbeck  determined  that 
he  would  become  a  "wine-opener." 

It  may  be  that  some  of  my  readers  do 
not  know  what  a  wine-opener  is.  For 
their  benefit  I  would  explain  that  it  is 
one  of  the  peculiar  products  of  American 

30 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

civilization — a  biped  whose  sole  aim  in 
life  is  to  be  known  as  a  "  perfect  gentle- 
man," and  who  sees  bnt  one  path  leading 
to  the  goal  of  his  ambition.  That  path 
is  strewn  with  empty  bottles,  headaches, 
heel-taps,  scraps  of  tin-foil,  and  wire  and 
corkscrews.  The  corks  which  he  leaves 
behind  him  in  his  mad  course  are  gath- 
ered up  by  the  waiters  and  redeemed  at 
twenty-five  cents  apiece  by  the  wine- 
agents  who  are  enriched  by  his  match- 
less folly.  The  wine-opener's  only  duty 
in  life  is  to  purchase  bottles  of  champagne 
on  every  possible  occasion,  and  serve 
them  to  the  thirsty  genials  who  will 
swarm  about  him  so  long  as  his  money 
lasts,  sounding  his  praises  as  they  prey 
upon  him,  and  calling  upon  Allah  to 
witness  that  he  is  the  "prince  of  good 
fellows,"  the  "perfect  gentleman,"  the 
one  citizen  with  "sporting  blood  to  his 
fingers'  ends,"  who  will  buy  wine  at  all 
hours  of  the  day  and  night. 
31 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Dolly  had  not  failed  to  remark  the  high 
esteem  in  which  men  of  the  wine-opening 
class  were  held  by  those  who  drank  at 
their  expense.  Their  jokes,  he  had  no- 
ticed, were  always  received  with  uproar- 
ious laughter  and  loud  slapping  of  knees ; 
while  their  stories,  no  matter  how  long 
or  tedious  they  might  be,  commanded  an 
almost  reverent  attention.  Even  such  a 
famous  wit  as  Judge  Doonothing,  who 
was  usually  so  engrossed  in  his  own  con- 
versation that  he  could  pay  scant  heed  to 
that  of  other  people,  never  failed  to  catch 
the  point  of  a  wine-opener's  story  or  joke 
and  reward  it  with  the  tribute  of  hearty 
laughter. 

And  he  had  observed,  too,  that  men 
whose  mental  and  moral  endowments 
were  of  the  most  commonplace  descrip- 
tion could  always  invest  themselves  with 
the  finest  and  noblest  qualities  vouchsafed 
to  erring  humanity  by  the  simple  though 
rather  costly  process  of  gathering  a  half 
32 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

dozen  of  the  habitues  of  the  cafe  about 
them  and  treating  them  to  champagne. 
On  such  festive  occasions  he  had  not  been 
blind  to  the  fact  that  the  rare  personal 
charms  of  the  host,  his  graceful  bear- 
ing, his  ready  wit,  his  generosity,  and  his 
sensitive,  noble  nature  were  frequently 
made  the  subject  of  the  most  fulsome 
panegyrics,  in  which  every  one  present 
heartily  joined;  and  that  in  order  to 
divert  the  conversation  into  this  agree- 
able channel  it  was  only  necessary  for 
the  wine-opener  to  say,  "  Gentlemen,  you 
can't  spend  a  cent  in  this  house  to-night ; 
everything  is  with  me." 

Having  been  an  eye-witness  of  these 
strange  phenomena,  it  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at  that  Dolly  Dillenbeck  should 
have  debated  within  himself  the  pro- 
priety of  becoming  a  wine-opener  on  a 
scale  of  such  magnitude  as  had  never 
before  been  attempted  by  any  gudgeon 
on  upper  Broadway,  or  that  the  chance 

3  33 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

remark  of  such  a  distinguished  man  of 
the  world  as  General  Whiffletree  should 
have  crystallized  his  inchoate  ideas  into  a 
fixed  resolution.  He  determined  to  lose 
no  time  in  embarking  on  his  career,  and 
by  the  time  he  had  reached  his  fourth 
bottle  he  felt  sure,  from  the  complimen- 
tary remarks  of  his  guests,  and  the  deep 
respect  with  which  they  listened  to  his 
own  stories  and  feeble  attempts  at  re- 
partee, that  he  was  already  rising  rapidly 
in  their  estimation. 

General  Whiffletree  seemed  to  take  a 
great  fancy  to  him,  for  the  very  next  day 
he  learned  from  no  less  than  three  disinter- 
ested acquaintances  that  that  war-scarred 
veteran  had  declared  in  the  presence  of 
a  large  assemblage  of  genials  that  that 
young  Mr.  Dillenbeck  was  a  "thorough- 
bred from  the  ground  up,"  and  that  so 
long  as  his  (the  General's)  "wad"  held 
out,  he  (Dolly)  should  never  want  for  a 
friend. 

34 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

But  what  happened  several  months  ago 
is  ancient  history  in  a  gay,  theatric  career 
such  as  our  hero  entered  upon  under  the 
competent  guidance  of  General  Whiffle- 
tree.  Let  us  take  up  the  thread  of  our 
story  again,  and  see  what  has  become  of 
the  young  girl  with  the  wide-open  blue 
eyes,  who  disappeared  into  a  Fourth 
Avenue  horse-car,  pausing  on  the  plat- 
form to  cast  one  look  at  the  giddy,  dash- 
ing youth  who  stood  gazing  hopelessly 
after  her. 

That  single  glance,  aimed  from  the  rear 
platform  of  a  prosaic,  every-day  horse-car, 
hit  the  grinning,  complacent,  overdressed 
gudgeon  on  the  sidewalk  on  his  most 
vulnerable  spot, — his  vanity, — and  made 
this  story  possible.  If  it  had  not  been 
for  that  backward  look.  But  this  is  no 
place  for  idle  speculation.  Let  us  go  on 
with  our  romance. 


CHAPTER  IV 

AT  a  corner  table  in  the  cafe"  of  the  St. 
Anthony  House  sat  General  Whiffletree, 
with  a  half -finished  cocktail  before  him, 
an  open  letter  in  his  hand,  and  on  his 
face  an  expression  in  which  rage,  mortifi- 
cation, and  an  awful  terror  were  comi- 
cally blended.  For  nearly  two  hours  he 
had  been  waiting  for  Dolly  Dillenbeck, 
with  whom  he  had  an  engagement  for 
dinner  and  the  theater,  and  the  half- 
finished  cocktail  in  front  of  him  was  the 
fourth  he  had  ordered  during  that  time. 
His  change  of  countenance  as  he  read  the 
note  brought  him  by  a*district  messenger 
was  so  noticeable  that  the  waiter,  whom 
he  had  been  bullying  for  an  hour  and 
a  quarter,  promptly  placed  a  check  for 
36 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

eighty  cents  on  the  table  and  stationed 
himself  just  within  his  range  of  vision. 
The  letter  which  had  stirred  the  old  war- 
rior's soul  to  its  muddy  depths  was  as 
follows : 

"  Sony  to  disappoint  you ;  but  I  have 
something  on  hand  to-night  which  I  really 
can't  let  slip,  so  I  must  ask  you  to  put 
off  our  dinner  till  to-morrow, —  same  time 
and  place, — when  I  will  explain  every- 
thing. The  girl  we  saw  at  Forty-second 
Street  the  other  day  is  with  me  at  this  very 
minute.  How  is  that  for  quick  work  ? 
"  In  haste, 

"  DOLLY." 

General  Whiffletree  laid  the  note  on 
the  table,  and  just  then  his  eye  fell  on  the 
check  for  the  four  cocktails. 

"  Who  told  you  to  bring  that  document 
to  me  ? "  he  demanded,  scowling  ferociously 
at  the  waiter. 

3*  37 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

11  The  cashier,  sir,"  responded  the  ser- 
vitor, in  a  tone  that  was  at  once  respectful 
and  significant. 

Now  the  General  belonged  to  that  large 
class  of  people  who  can  look  on  without 
turning  a  hair  while  their  friends  set- 
tle bills  of  any  amount,  but  are  always 
thrown  into  paroxysms  of  fury  when 
even  the  smallest  bar  check  is  brought  to 
them  for  payment.  For  a  moment  he 
glared  fiercely  at  the  waiter,  then  pom- 
pously extracted  the  required  amount 
from  his  vest-pocket,  put  on  his  hat  and 
semi-military  coat,  and  stalked  indig- 
nantly out  of  the  room.  A  quarter  of 
an  hour  later  he  might  have  been  seen 
entering  a  place  of  refreshment  of  a  much 
humbler  sort  than  the  one  he  had  just 
quitted.  This  one  displayed  in  its  front 
windows  an  appetizing  array  of  yellow 
pumpkins,  canned  vegetables,  and  other 
indices  of  the  fare  provided  within.  From 
time  to  time  the  cheerful  cries  of  the  col- 
38 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

ored  waiters  echoed  through  the  large, 
well-lighted  dining-room.  As  the  General 
seated  himself  at  one  of  the  small  tables 
and  carefully  scrutinized  the  greasy  bill 
of  fare,  he  cursed  himself  for  an  infernal 
fool. 

"What  did  I  let  that  boy  out  of  my 
sight  for?"  he  demanded  of  his  eon- 
science.  "  If  he  falls  into  the  clutches  of 
that  girl  he  '11  be  lost  forever." 

From  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  the 
veteran  had  a  keen  sense  of  his  duties  as 
mentor,  guide,  and  friend. 

If  the  General  could  have  seen  the 
"  boy "  at  that  moment  his  disinterested 
anxiety  for  his  welfare  would  not  have 
perceptibly  diminished;  for  Dolly  was 
looking  across  a  small  dining-table  di- 
rectly into  those  dangerous  blue  depths, 
his  face  fairly  beaming  with  triumph  and 
delight  at  the  thought  that  it  was  his 
irresistible  powers  of  attraction,  coupled 
with  his  tact  as  a  man  of  the  world, 
39 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

which  had  made  her  presence  there  with 
him  possible. 

He  had  met  her  quite  accidentally  that 
afternoon  as  he  was  taking  his  usual 
stroll  up  Broadway,  and  of  course  he  had 
turned  around  and  followed  her;  and 
she,  not  seeming  to  notice  him,  had 
turned  into  a  side  street  and  walked 
briskly  toward  the  east,  with  her  eager 
admirer  clattering  along  about  fifty  paces 
behind  her.  Close  to  Lexington  Avenue 
she  had  paused  and  looked  up  at  the 
number  on  one  of  the  houses,  and  then 
consulted  a  bit  of  paper  in  her  hand  with 
the  air  of  one  who  had  gone  completely 
astray. 

It  was  at  this  opportune  moment 
that  Dolly  had  borne  down  upon  her, 
and,  trembling  at  his  own  audacity,  had 
stopped  and  asked  if  he  could  be  of  any 
service  to  her. 

Indeed  he  could,  for  she  was  a  stranger 
in  the  city,  and  was  trying  to  find  the 

40 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

house  in  which,  she  had  taken  a  room  but 
two  days  before.  Perhaps  he  would  be 
good  enough  to  direct  her  to  the  place, — 
she  had  it  carefully  written  out  on  a  little 
piece  of  paper, — and  indeed  it  was  very 
kind  of  him  to  take  so  much  trouble  for 
a  perfect  stranger.  Was  she  really  five 
blocks  out  of  the  way?  And  would  she 
allow  him  to  walk  with  her  to  the  street 
in  which  she  lived?  She  would  be  very 
grateful  to  him  for  the  kindness.  And  so 
skilfully  did  our  hero  play  his  cards  dur- 
ing that  brief  walk  that  at  seven  o'clock 
he  found  himself  seated  opposite  to  her  in 
the  way  I  have  already  described. 

And  he  had  learned  from  her  own  lips 
that  she  was  a  simple  country  maiden 
who  had  just  come  to  New  York,  and 
that  her  name  was  Maude  Wheatleigh. 

He  had  "  arrived  "  at  last.     His  dream 

of   years  was   realized.     There  was  no 

ostrich  plume  waving  above  the  sweet 

young  face  that  looked  up  into  his,  but 

41 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  smile  was  there,  and  the  blue  eyes 
were  brighter  and  deeper  than  any  that 
he  had  ever  looked  into  before. 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  the  blue-eyed  one, 
glancing  about  her  with  a  look  of  trusting 
timidity,  "  that  I  am  frightened  almost  to 
death  when  I  think  of  being  here  all  alone 
with  a  man  I  Ve  known  such  a  very  short 
while !  If  I  was  n't  sure  from  your  looks 
that  you  were  a  perfect  gentleman  I  'd 
never  dare  do  what  I  'm  doing  now ;  but 
somehow  every  few  minutes  I  make  up 
my  mind  I  '11  get  up  from  the  table  and 
run  right  back  home,  I  'm  so  afraid 
something  awful  will  happen." 

"Don't  talk  so,  I  beg  of  you,"  cried 
Dolly,  placing  a  detaining  hand  on  her 
wrist,  and  experiencing  a  distinct  thrill 
of  rapture  when  he  found  that  she  al- 
lowed it  to  remain  there.  "  I  assure  you 
on  my  honor  as  a  gentleman,  Miss  Wheat- 
leigh,  that  if  you  will  only  put  trust  in 
me  no  harm  shall  befall  you.  We  '11  go 
42 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

to  the  theater  to-night,  and  then  I  '11  take 
you  home  and  leave  you  there." 

"How  good  you  are!"  she  exclaimed 
impetuously,  throwing  a  soulful  look 
across  the  table  at  him.  And  then  she 
fell  to  toying  with  her  empty  glass, — 
using  her  free  hand,  not  the  one  which 
Dolly  was  now  rapturously  pressing, — 
and  presently  she  said,  "  How  do  you  call 
this  sweet  drink  that  foams?  I  think 
it  'a  real  nice." 

"That,"  replied  DiUenbeck,  grandly, 
"is  champagne,  and  we  '11  have  another 
bottle."  With  which  he  touched  the  bell 
in  a  lordly  fashion,  while  a  very  slight 
smile  played  across  Miss  Wheatleigh's 
lips. 

They  went  to  the  theater  that  night — 
not  to  one  of  the  fashionable  playhouses, 
but  to  see  a  melodrama,  which  was  draw- 
ing immense  audiences  at  one  of  the  big 
"  combination  houses,"  where  it  was  billed 
for  a  week.  It  was  an  Irish  melodrama 
43 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

of  the  good  old  sort,  in  which  the  villain 
reveals  his  sinister  proclivities  in  the  first 
act  by  attempting  to  collect  the  rents 
which  are  his  lawful  due — the  worst  form 
of  infamy  known  to  the  Irish  stage. 
There  was  also  a  scene  in  which  the 
heroine  met  the  villain  by  appointment  at 
midnight  in  front  of  the  old  ruined  mill, 
and,  having  indignantly  refused  to  marry 
him,  was  promptly  seized  and  incarcerated 
in  an  old  stone  tower  by  the  lake-side. 
This  tower  was  constructed  after  the  old 
Celtic  fashion,  with  walls  of  wire  gauze, 
which  afforded  a  view  of  the  unfortunate 
maiden  during  the  period  of  her  captivity. 
Maude  Wheatleigh  paid  deep  attention 
to  the  drama,  and  even  her  companion, 
who  had  at  first  assumed  the  blast  air 
of  a  man  of  the  world,  joined  in  the  wild 
applause  when  the  funny  man,  who  had 
been  an  unobserved  witness  of  the  seizure 
of  the  heroine,  rowed  in  a  boat  to  the 
foot  of  the  gauze  tower  and  rescued  her 

44 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

with  the  aid  of  a  convenient  rope-ladder, 
making  his  escape  just  in  time  to  elude 
the  villain,  who  stood  on  the  shore  shak- 
ing his  riding-crop  at  the  fugitives  in 
impotent  rage  till  the  curtain  hid  him 
from  view.  They  both  rejoiced  when  the 
true  will  was  found  and  the  vast  Fitz- 
gerald-Fogarty  estates  were  restored  to 
their  rightful  owner,  the  heroine,  to  the 
unbounded  delight  of  the  peasantry,  who 
knew  that  she  was  opposed  on  principle 
to  the  iniquitous  practice  of  rent-col- 
lecting. 

As  they  were  slowly  walking  away 
after  the  final  fall  of  the  curtain  Maude 
said,  with  a  repetition  of  the  timorous, 
trustful  manner  which  she  had  already 
found  so  effective,  "Mr.  Dillenbeck, 
there  's  one  thing  I  Ve  been  thinking 
about  for  a  long  time,  and  I  'd  like  to  ask 
your  advice  about  it,  if  you  don't  mind, 
for  somehow  I  feel  that  I  have  found  in 
you  a  friend  I  can  trust." 
45 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"Indeed  you  have;  go  right  on  and 
tell  me  what  you  want/'  exclaimed  Dolly, 
impetuously. 

"Well,"  continued  the  young  girl,  in 
hesitating  tones,  "  I  think  I  would  like  to 
be  an  actress ;  for  I  'm  sure  I  would  suc- 
ceed if  I  only  had  a  chance.  Now  don't 
you  think  you  could  help  me  ?  You  know 
so  many  managers  and  people  like  that, 
while  I  know  no  one.  And  besides,  you 
must  have  a  great  deal  of  influence,  too ; 
I  'm  sure  you  could  do  anything  you 
wished  with  your  persuasive,  nice  ways." 

"My  dear  girl,"  he  cried,  completely 
won  by  her  subtle  flattery,  "  I  '11  be  only 
too  happy  to  do  anything  I  can  for  you. 
I  know  several  managers,  and  I  '11  see 
one  of  them  the  first  thing  to-morrow  and 
try  and  get  an  opening  for  you.  I  've  no 
doubt  you  'd  be  a  big  success ;  anyway, 
I  'm  sure  you  're  a  great  deal  better  look- 
ing than  any  of  those  girls  we  saw  to-night, 
and  that  ought  to  count  for  something." 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

11  No  flattery,  now  j  that 's  against  the 
rules,"  she  retorted,  tapping  him  play- 
fully on  the  arm.  And  just  then  they 
reached  her  house,  and  she  hastily  bade 
him  good-night  and  went  in,  leaving  him 
to  walk  home  in  a  state  of  exaltation 
which  far  exceeded  anything  that  his 
favorite  tipple  could  induce. 


47 


CHAPTER  V 

BRIGHT  and  early  the  next  morning,  or 
rather  at  a  few  minutes  before  twelve, 
which  is  bright  and  early  for  a  young 
viveur  like  Dolly,  our  hero  entered  the 
office  of  the  famous  theatrical  firm  of 
Hustle  &  Hardup,  and  inquired  for  the 
senior  partner,  whom  he  had  frequently 
met  in  the  St.  Anthony  cafe.  Mr.  Hustle, 
who  was  at  that  moment  gloomily  wonder- 
ing where  the  money  was  to  come  from 
to  tide  him  over  the  next  salary  day,  took 
him  at  once  into  his  private  office  and 
offered  him  a  cigar.  His  face  brightened 
perceptibly,  and  his  thoughts  took  a  more 
sanguine  turn  as  the  simple-minded  youth 
unfolded  to  him  his  scheme  for  securing 

48 


DOLLT  DILLENBECK 

a  position  in  some  first-rate  theatrical 
company  for  a  young  lady  whom  he  knew 
slightly, —  "  simply  as  a  friend,  you  under- 
stand,"— and  who,  in  his  judgment,  pos- 
sessed talents  which  were  sure  to  make 
her  a  success. 

Mr.  Hustle  listened  with  deep  atten- 
tion to  all  that  Dolly  had  to  say,  and 
then  asked  for  a  few  moments'  time  for 
reflection.  In  exactly  two  minutes — dur- 
ing which  time  he  had  calculated  that 
five  hundred  dollars  was  about  the  proper 
sum  to  ask  for — he  informed  his  visitor 
that  he  happened  to  know  of  an  excep- 
tional opportunity  for  a  young  lady,  pro- 
vided she  was  pretty  and  clever.  Of  course 
if  she  was  a  novice  it  would  be  necessary 
for  her  to  take  some  special  lessons  in 
dramatic  art,  but  it  was  absolutely  essen- 
tial that  she  should  possess  beauty  and 
cleverness. 

Now  Mr.  Hustle's  reasoning  powers 
had  been  developed,  by  long  friction 

4  49 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

with  some  of  the  craftiest  scoundrels  on 
Broadway,  to  a  degree  that  would  have 
excited  the  envy  of  a  professor  of  logic 
in  a  German  university;  and  he  argued 
that  if  the  girl  were  not  pretty,  Dolly 
would  not  take  any  interest  in  her ;  if  not 
clever,  then  she  would  not  know  enough 
to  enlist  his  services ;  and  that  if,  possess- 
ing either  or  both  of  these  qualities,  she 
had  had  any  experience  on  the  stage,  she 
would  get  an  engagement  herself,  and  in 
some  company  not  under  the  management 
of  Messrs.  Hustle  &  Hardup,  who  were 
not  famous  for  promptness  or  liberality 
in  the  payment  of  salaries. 

"  Could  you  bring  her  here  this  after- 
noon ? "  inquired  Mr.  Hustle  when  he  had 
learned  from  the  lips  of  his  caller  that 
the  young  lady  was  not  only  pretty,  but 
"  bright  as  a  new  dollar." 

He  could ;  and  so  it  was  arranged  that 
Maude  should  call  at  two  o'clock  and  her 
sponsor  at  five,  which  would  give  Mr. 
50 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Hustle  time  for  consultation  with  his 
partner. 

The  senior  member  of  the  firm  was 
alone  in  his  private  office  when  Dolly  pre- 
sented himself  at  the  hour  agreed  upon 
and  demanded  in  a  tone  of  feverish  eager- 
ness which  lifted  Mr.  Hustle's  estimate 
from  five  hundred  to  eight  hundred  dol- 
lars, what  he  thought  of  Miss  Wheatleigh. 

"  Oh,  she  's  all  right,  my  boy,"  said  the 
manager,  confidently.  "She  's  not  only 
pretty,  but  she  's  chock-full  of  talent.  I 
only  wish  I  'd  got  hold  of  her  two  weeks 
ago.  We  might  have  done  something  for 
her  then,  but  now — " 

"Why,  I  thought  you  told  me  this 
morning  that  you  had  an  opening  for 
a  pretty  and  talented  young  girl!" 

"  That  's  just  what  I  thought  myself, 
my  boy;  but  when  I  came  to  talk  about 
it  to  Hardup  he  would  n't  listen  to  it  for 
a  minute,  on  account  of  the  expense.  It 's 
like  pulling  teeth  to  get  a  cent  out  of  him, 
51 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

no  matter  how  promising  the  venture  may 
be.  Now  I  'm  just  the  other  way — al- 
ways willing  to  take  chances  when  I  see 
a  good  thing ;  and  I  've  been  long  enough 
in  the  business  to  know  a  good  thing 
when  I  see  it.  The  very  minute  I  set 
eyes  on  Miss  Wheatleigh  I  see  she  was  a 
winner ;  and  so  far  as  I  'm  concerned  I  'd 
take  the  risk  in  a  minute,  and  put  her  in 
a  part  where  she  'd  stand  some  chance  of 
making  a  hit.  Even  now  I  've  got  just 
enough  confidence  in  that  lady's  talent  to 
make  her  an  offer — not  the  one  I  hoped  to 
make  her  when  I  saw  you  this  morning, 
but  a  good  offer  for  a  beginner.  We  're 
sending  out  a  company  in  a  week  or 
two  to  play  the  Pacific  coast,  and  I  'm 
willing — " 

"The  Pacific  coast!  Why,  she'd  be 
away  for  six  months  at  the  very  least ! " 
cried  Dolly,  with  a  look  of  despair  that 
made  the  manager  bite  his  lips  hard  to 
keep  from  laughing  outright. 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"  Six  months  ! "  he  continued.  "  Why,  if 
the  company  catches  on  we  7re  thinking  of 
sending  them  to  Honolulu  and  over  the 
Australian  circuit." 

The  young  man's  face  fell,  and  he  shook 
his  head  so  lugubriously  that  Mr.  Hustle 
was  obliged  to  step  to  the  door  and  make 
a  pretense  of  speaking  to  one  of  the  clerks 
in  order  to  hide  his  mirth. 

"  Well,  I  'm  afraid  that >s  the  best  I  can 
do,"  he  remarked  as  he  returned  to  his 
seat.  "  You  see,  Hardup  is  always  kick- 
ing about  expense,  and  trying  to  cut 
everything  down  to  hard-pan.  My  idea 
was  to  put  this  little  lady  into  a  very  nice 
speaking  part  in  the  piece  we  're  going  to 
bring  out  next  month ;  have  her  coached 
for  it  by  some  first-class  instructor,  get  her 
some  fine  dresses,  and  spend  a  little  money 
with  the  newspaper  boys,  you  know,  just 
to  make  sure  that  she  got  a  fair  show  be- 
fore the  public.  Let  's  see;  we  open  in 
Paterson  about  five  weeks  from  to-day, 

4*  53 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

and  about  a  month  or  two  after  that 
we  're  due  at  the  Jollity  Theater  here  in 
New  York.  It 's  my  opinion  that  by  that 
time  she  '11  have  made  such  progress  that 
she  '11  take  the  town  by  storm — yes,  sir, 
by  storm.  But  the  expense,  my  boy,  is 
something  awful,  and  my  partner  won't 
hear  of  it." 

"  How  much  would  it  cost  ? "  demanded 
Dolly. 

"  It  would  cost,"  continued  the  manager, 
thoughtfully  rubbing  his  chin,  "  at  least  a 
thousand  dollars,  and  it  might — " 

"  Very  well,"  said  the  victim,  "  I  '11  foot 
the  bill  myself ;  but  it 's  on  condition  that 
nothing  shall  be  known  about  my  connec- 
tion with  the  enterprise." 

"My  dear  boy,"  said  Mr.  Hustle,  suavely, 
but  in  a  tone  of  reproach,  "  do  you  think 
that  anything  that  happens  in  this  office 
is  ever  known  outside  f  I  only  hope  that 
you  will  be  as  careful  not  to  mention 
the  transaction  as  I  shall  be ;  for  if  it 
54 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

ever  became  known  on  Broadway  that 
we  were  taking  money  from  outside 
parties,  our  credit  would  be  seriously 
damaged." 

So  it  was  settled  that  Miss  Wheatleigh 
should  begin  her  studies  the  next  day 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Horatio  Rung- 
down,  the  celebrated  Shakespearian  actor, 
whom  Mr.  Dillenbeck  had  frequently  en- 
tertained in  the  St.  Anthony  cafe,  and  for 
whose  talents  he  entertained  a  profound 
respect.  It  was  also  arranged  that  the 
check  for  one  thousand  dollars,  drawn  to 
the  order  of  Messrs.  Hustle  &  Hardup, 
should  be  delivered  up  at  the  same  time ; 
and  with  this  understanding  Dolly  de- 
parted to  keep  his  engagement  with  Gen- 
eral Whiffletree. 

He  had  barely  reached  the  staircase 
when  he  found  that  he  had  forgotten  his 
umbrella ;  and  on  going  back  for  it  he  was 
amazed  to  find  Messrs.  Hustle  &  Hardup 
waltzing  madly  around  the  little  private 

55 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

office,  overthrowing  chairs,  bumping  into 
desks,  and  threatening  at  each  turn  to  de- 
molish the  glass  partitions.  They  stopped 
abruptly  when  they  saw  him  standing  in 
the  doorway,  and  Mr.  Hustle  advanced 
with  perfect  sang-froid  and  said,  "  That 's 
the  dance  for  the  second  act  of  the  new 
piece  your  lady  friend  is  going  to  make 
her  de"but  in.  Hardup  invented  it,  and 
when  we  've  practised  it  a  bit  together 
we  '11  teach  it  to  the  people.  What  do  you 
think  of  it?" 

Dolly  found  his  military  friend  in  rather 
bad  humor  and  very  much  on  his  dignity. 
"If  I  had  known  earlier  in  the  day  that 
you  were  not  coming,"  he  remarked 
pompously,  "I  would  have  accepted  the 
invitation  of  my  old  friend  Senator  Hard- 
scrabble  to  dine  and  pass  the  evening  at 
his  hotel;  but  not  hearing  from  you,  I 
waited  here  till  long  after  seven  o'clock, 
and  nearly  caught  my  death  in  a  con- 
founded draft."  The  only  draft  there  was 

56 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  one  on  his  vest-pocket,  which  had  cost 
him  precisely  eighty  cents. 

The  news  of  Dolly's  meeting  with  Maude 
Wheatleigh,  and  of  his  efforts  to  put  her 
on  the  stage  (nothing  was  said  of  the  check 
to  Hustle  &  Hardup),  did  not  tend  to  re- 
store the  General's  good-humor;  for  he 
saw  in  the  young  woman  only  a  possible 
rival,  and  he  wished,  for  purely  personal 
reasons,  to  retain  his  place  as  chief  friend 
and  adviser  to  the  fortunate  youth  who 
had  half  a  million  in  his  pockets  and  no 
ambition  except  to  become  a  celebrated 
wine-opener. 

"You  'd  better  be  careful,"  he  said 
ominously,  as  Dolly  finished  his  recital. 
"  These  actresses  get  a  man  into  a  heap  of 
trouble  sometimes,  and  there  's  precious 
little  good  comes  from  knowing  them. 
Once  you  begin  putting  up  for  them 
there 's  no  end  to  their  demands.  They  'd 
wear  sealskin  sacques  in  August  for  the 
sake  of  having  you  pay  for  them." 
57 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"  Oh,  I  can  take  care  of  myself ;  they  've 
got  to  get  up  pretty  early  in  the  morning 
to  get  the  best  of  me,"  was  the  gilded 
youth's  jaunty  reply  to  the  very  first  bit 
of  good  counsel  the  General  had  ever 
given  him. 


CHAPTER  VI 

As  I  read  over  what  I  have  written  it 
seems  to  me  that  I  should  pause  at  this 
point  in  my  story — perhaps  I  should  have 
done  so  before — and  tell  my  readers  some- 
thing about  my  pretty  blue-eyed  heroine, 
whom  I  fear  I  have  injured  in  the  estima- 
tion of  those  excellent  people  of  conven- 
tional and  sober  modes  of  life  and  thought 
who  would  see  in  what  I  have  told  of  her 
conduct  with  my  young  hero  nothing  but 
a  gross  and  inexcusable  violation  of  the 
proprieties. 

That  Miss  Wheatleigh  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Mr.  Dillenbeck  on  a  public 
street  and  accompanied  him  to  the  theater 
on  the  same  evening  is  undeniably  true,  be- 
cause I,  who  alone  know  all  the  important 

59 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

episodes  of  her  career,  have  written  it  j  but 
that  I  did  her  an  unintentional  wrong  in 
describing  that  circumstance  without  first 
telling  my  readers  something  about  her 
antecedents  is  also  true,  and  I  feel  that  I 
must  hasten  to  repair  the  error,  and,  if 
possible,  rehabilitate  her  in  the  estimation 
of  those  who  have  done  me  the  honor  of 
reading  my  narrative. 

Among  the  many  parcels  of  real  estate 
described  in  the  schedule  of  the  posses- 
sions of  Jacob  Dillenbeck,  deceased,  is  the 
property  known  as  Cold  Brook  Farm, 
situated  on  the  old  turnpike  about  mid- 
way between  the  towns  of  Maplefield 
and  Millbridge,  in  a  beautiful,  hilly,  well- 
wooded  part  of  Massachusetts.  To  this 
farm  the  Dillenbecks  were  wont  to  come 
for  the  summer  months ;  and  as  they  were 
among  the  very  few  New-Yorkers  of  any 
wealth  who  possessed  homes  in  that  re- 
gion, they  were  known  by  sight  to  every 
one  who  dwelt  within  a  dozen  miles  of 
80 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

them.  A  few,  indeed,  knew  them  person- 
ally, and  used  to  exchange  greetings  with 
them  on  Sundays  at  the  Congregational 
church  in  Maplefield,  or  on  week-days  if 
they  chanced  to  meet  them  driving  along 
the  country  roads  or  shopping  in  the  vil- 
lage stores. 

They  were  not  fond  of  society,  however ; 
and  although  it  was  agreed  on  all  sides 
that  they  were  homely  and  unpretentious 
folk,  and  not  at  all  "  stuck  up,"  it  was  also 
generally  known  that  they  were  people 
who  liked  to  keep  to  themselves,  and  were 
particularly  solicitous  of  their  only  son, 
whose  only  playmate  was  young  Joe  Whit- 
comb,  the  son  of  the  pastor  of  the  church 
which  they  attended. 

Now  in  the  little  town  of  Millbridge, 
distant  about  five  miles  from  the  Cold 
Brook  Farm,  there  lived  a  widow  named 
Hunt  and  her  daughter  Polly.  Mrs.  Hunt 
owned  the  little  old  gray  house  in  which 
she  lived,  and,  with  the  help  of  a  sister  who 
61 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

was  in  fairly  good  circumstances,  had  con- 
trived to  feed  and  clothe  herself  and  her 
daughter  until  the  latter  was  old  enough 
to  add  by  her  labor  to  the  family  income. 
At  eighteen  Polly  went  to  Maplefield  to 
learn  the  trade  of  dressmaking ;  and  as  she 
was  a  girl  of  much  cleverness  and  beauty, 
it  was  not  long  before  she  attracted  the 
favorable  notice  of  a  score  or  more  of  the 
young  men  who  were  looked  upon  by  the 
other  girls  in  the  shop  as  the  most  desirable 
sweethearts  within  their  reach. 

Now  Maplefield  had  a  population  of 
nearly  ten  thousand  souls ;  and  Polly  soon 
found,  to  her  intense  mortification,  that  in 
the  social  strata  into  which  its  inhabitants 
were  divided,  the  layer  to  which  she  and 
her  fellow-workers  of  the  dressmaker's 
shop  and  the  young  clerks  who  admired 
them  belonged  was  one  that  did  not  enjoy 
a  very  high  rank  in  the  community.  In 
Millbridge,  a  mere  scattered  hamlet  of  not 
more  than  two  hundred  houses,  among 
62 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

which  her  mother's  modest  and  time 
stained  home  was  not  below  the  average 
in  point  of  cost  and  comfort,  she  had  al- 
ways felt  herself  to  be  as  good  as  any  of 
her  neighbors,  and  decidedly  better  than 
most  of  them.  She  had  taken  the  place  in 
the  Maplefield  dressmaker's  shop  prin- 
cipally because  of  the  social  advantages 
which  she  believed  she  would  enjoy  there. 
She  had  exhausted  her  native  village,  and 
she  expected  that  Maplefield  would  en- 
large her  knowledge  of  the  world  and  pre- 
pare her  in  a  way  for  some  career — she 
did  not  know  precisely  what — that  would 
enable  her  to  become  some  one  of  im- 
portance in  some  great  city  like  Boston 
or  New  York. 

Her  father,  whom  she  scarcely  remem- 
bered, had  been  a  house-  and  sign-painter, 
and  from  him  Polly  had  inherited  a  dis- 
tinctly artistic  temperament. 

I  must  either  explain  my  last  sentence 
or  else  try  to  put  my  meaning  in  some 
63 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

other  form.  It  bears  a  very  close  re- 
semblance to  the  sort  of  sentence  that  oc- 
curs frequently  in  professedly  humorous 
stories,  and  is  introduced  as  a  sort  of  hall- 
mark to  guarantee  the  fact  that  the  manu- 
script in  which  it  is  embedded  is  really 
humorous  in  purpose  and  achievement. 
The  dullest  bumpkin  that  ever  edited  the 
humorous  page  of  a  Sunday  newspaper 
knows  that  it  is  funny  to  say  that  an 
artistic  temperament  has  been  inherited 
from  a  house-  and  sign-painter;  and  al- 
though he  may  not  have  the  remotest  idea 
as  to  what  an  artistic  temperament  is,  con- 
fidence in  the  comical  nature  of  the  story 
is  greatly  enhanced,  and  he  is  liable  to 
publish  and  pay  for  it. 

Therefore  it  behooves  me  to  explain 
that  when  I  mentioned  the  source  of  Polly 
Hunt's  artistic  inheritance  I  merely  stated 
a  simple  truth  and  had  no  intention  of  be- 
ing" funny.  Joe  Hunt  had  possessed  an 
artistic  nature,  which  had  found  rude  ex- 
64 


TO  THE  SUCCESS  OF  A  CERTAIN  YOUNG  LADY — " 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

pression  in  many  quaintly  lettered  signs 
that  may  still  be  seen  in  front  of  the  shops 
in  Maplefield  and  Millbridge.  He  had  pos- 
sessed, also,  in  a  still  more  marked  degree, 
a  deep  love  of  nature,  a  passion  for  watch- 
ing the  flights  of  birds  and  studying 
the  habits  of  the  rabbit  and  the  fox.  He 
would  follow  the  course  of  a  trout-stream 
from  dawn  to  dusk,  and  lie  for  hours  at  a 
time  on  his  back  beneath  the  forest-trees 
looking  up  at  the  floating  clouds  and  the 
patches  of  blue  sky,  and  vaguely  regret- 
ting that  he  was  what  he  was. 

Now,  as  every  one  knows,  nothing  is 
more  thoroughly  incompatible  with  the 
art  or  trade  of  money-getting  than  a  deep 
love  of  nature.  I  doubt  if  I  have  ever 
known  a  man  who  had  amassed  a  fortune 
and  who  really  enjoyed  the  woods  and  the 
fields.  A  rich  man,  it  is  true,  usually  con- 
trives to  purchase,  at  some  prosperous 
moment,  a  more  or  less  pretentious  coun- 
try-seat ;  and  I  have  noticed  that  in  nine 

5  65 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

cases  out  of  ten  he  devotes  a  great  deal 
of  money  and  the  entire  energy  of  his 
declining  years  to  the  task  of  disfiguring 
his  domain  and  rendering  it,  if  possible, 
more  hideous  and  vulgar  than  the  neigh- 
boring properties  on  which  his  fellow- 
plutocrats  are  doing  their  worst. 

His  artistic  sense  first  finds  adequate 
expression  in  stone  walls  which  are  built 
to  mark  the  confines  of  his  estate. 

There  are  plenty  of  stone  walls  on  the 
farms  about  him,  made  of  rough  boulders 
piled  one  on  top  of  another,  and  rendered 
beautiful  by  rank  growths  of  trailing 
vines  and  moss ;  but  his  stone  walls  are 
of  hewn  stone  and  cement,  with  no  green 
growing  thing  to  soften  their  hard  out- 
lines, and  suggestive  of  a  prison  rather 
than  of  lawn  and  garden.  Hideous  tinned 
or  whitened  statues  of  naked  heathen 
deities  spring  up  about  his  mansion.  An 
artificial  grotto  with  a  cascade  of  real 
water — which  issues  from  a  real  leaden 
66 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

pipe,  and  may  be  turned  on  or  off  by  means 
of  a  stop-cock — rears  itself  at  some  point 
where  it  would  be  impossible  for  a  grotto 
or  a  living  spring  to  exist ;  and  then  a  Ger- 
man horticulturist  adds  his  conception  of 
what  is  ornamental  in  landscape-garden- 
ing to  the  work  of  desecrating  the  fair 
earth. 

Outraged  nature  finds  her  only  solace 
in  the  knowledge  that  the  artificial  cave 
and  cascade — a  decorative  impertinence 
which  no  word  in  the  English  tongue 
can  fittingly  describe — are  known  as  a 
"rockery." 

The  grassy  door-yard  of  the  old  gray 
farm-house  that  sheltered  Joe  Hunt's  fam- 
ily was  cool  and  inviting  with  its  shade 
of  maple  and  scent  of  lilac-blossoms.  The 
lawn  in  front  of  the  house  in  which  Jacob 
Dillenbeck  "resided"— the  Hunts  were 
poor  and  merely  "lived"  in  theirs — was 
kept  trimmed  down  to  the  quick  by  the 
sharp  teeth  of  the  mower,  while  the  nar- 
67 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

row  strip  along  the  roadway  and  outside 
the  stone  wall  looked  like  an  Irish  labor- 
er's upper  lip  after  the  Sunday-morning 
shave. 

A  famous  artist  once  stopped  at  Mrs. 
Hunt's  door  to  ask  for  a  drink  of  water, 
and  remained  to  sketch  the  old  well-curb, 
from  which  a  brown  path  led  through 
deep  green  grass  to  the  kitchen  door 
where  Polly  stood  watching  the  painter 
and  knowing  the  while  that  he  was  draw- 
ing her  as  well  as  the  rest. 

The  same  artist  passed  the  Dillenbeck 
estate  later  in  the  day  with  averted  face 
and  a  groan  of  disgust  on  his  lips. 

It  was  from  this  house-  and  sign-painter, 
who  loved  the  woods  and  streams,  and  was 
not  unconscious  of  the  restful  beauty  of 
his  own  modest  home,  that  Polly  inherited 
her  artistic  nature.  To  her  practical, 
sharp  New  England  mother  she  owed  the 
self-reliance,  ambition,  and  determination 
to  conquer  which  served  to  render  her  im- 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

patient  of  her  commonplace  surroundings 
in  Maplefield,  and  later  exerted  a  marked 
influence  on  her  career. 

She  soon  wearied  of  the  silly  chatter  of 
the  other  young  women  who  worked  be- 
side her  in  the  dressmaker's  shop,  and, 
greatly  to  their  relief,  declined  to  receive 
the  attentions  of  the  young  men  with 
whom  they  consorted.  It  was  considered 
an  evidence  of  very  poor  taste  on  her  part 
that  she  should  prefer  to  spend  an  even- 
ing poring  over  some  novel  taken  from  the 
circulating  library  rather  than  take  part 
in  a  "  straw-ride/'  or  attend  the  monthly 
meeting  of  the  Mineola  Social  Club ;  but 
it  was  in  these  books  that  she  found 
her  only  real  enjoyment.  They  were  for 
the  most  part  novels  and  story-books  of 
the  kind  that  are  usually  sneered  at  as 
" trashy"  or  "  sensational,"  but  which  are 
in  reality  blessed  above  all  other  writings, 
inasmuch  as  they  have  lifted  up  so  many 
worn  and  weary  souls  from  the  dull  round 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

of  this  work-a-day  life  to  the  realms  that 
are  peopled  by  the  children  of  romance. 

It  was  during  this  novel-reading  period 
of  her  life  that  Polly  Hunt  happened  to 
see  the  handsome  and  well-dressed  youth 
who  was  wont  to  spend  his  summers  at 
the  Cold  Brook  Farm.  He  came  into  the 
dressmaking  shop  one  morning  in  com- 
pany with  his  mother,  and  seemed  ill 
enough  at  ease  under  the  keen  glances 
that  were  turned  toward  him  from  every 
part  of  the  room.  Polly  stared  at  him 
along  with  the  rest,  and  at  the  first  glance 
her  work  fell  from  her  hands  and  a  bright- 
red  spot  burned  on  each  of  her  cheeks, 
while  her  breath  came  in  quick,  short 
gasps.  It  seemed  to  her  that  she  saw 
before  her  in  the  flesh  the  young  Earl  of 
Eedfernne,  from  whom  she  had  parted 
that  very  morning  before  breakfast  just  as 
his  father's  younger  brother  was  about  to 
imprison  him  in  a  damp  dungeon  beneath 
Audrey  Towers. 

70 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Dolly  Dillenbeck  was  an  exceedingly 
good-looking  young  chap  at  that  time, 
and  it  was  not  at  all  strange  that  he 
should  precisely  fill  out  the  ideal  already 
formed  in  the  brain  of  the  romantic  young 
shop-girl  of  the  aristocratic  heir  to  Au- 
drey Towers  and  the  Redfernne  earldom. 

"  My,  just  look  at  PoUy !  She  looks  as 
if  something  had  struck  her  all  of  a  sud- 
den," snickered  one  of  the  girls  as  Mrs. 
Dillenbeck  and  her  son  left  the  shop.  The 
color  on  Miss  Hunt's  cheeks  became  an 
angry  scarlet  as  she  picked  up  her  work 
from  the  floor  and  resumed  her  sewing 
amid  a  chorus  of  suppressed  giggling ;  for 
her  companions  were  all  glad  enough  of  a 
chance  to  ridicule  the  "stuck-up  thing" 
who  thought  herself  too  good  to  associate 
with  them. 

Polly  bore  their  teasings  for  a  time,  and 
then  blurted  out,  "  Well,  when  I  have  a 
beau  it  will  be  Mr.  Dillenbeck,or  some  one 
that  7s  just  as  stylish  as  him ;  and  I  could 

71 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

have  him,  too,  if  I  chose  to  set  my  cap  for 
him,  you  ;d  better  believe." 

"  My,  what  a  big  tail  our  cat  '&  got ! " 
chirruped  the  girl  who  had  started  the 
subject,  and  who  was  the  wit  of  the 
shop. 

"  I  suppose  you  're  content  with  a  chalk- 
faced,  knock-kneed  counter-jumper  who 
has  to  hop  every  time  he  hears  any  one 
holler  '  Ca-a-a-a-sh,' "  retorted  Polly.  And 
the  other  said  no  more,  for  her  particular 
"  feller  "  was  a  pallid  youth  who  found  em- 
ployment in  the  One  Price  Dry-goods  Em- 
porium, and  took  his  walks  abroad  with  a 
springy  wabble  in  his  gait. 

The  next  day  it  was  reported  on  Main 
Street  that  that  pretty  Hunt  girl  who 
worked  at  Miss  Thimbleton's  had  declared 
her  intention  to  "  make  up  "  to  the  heir  of 
Cold  Brook  Farm  and  heaven  alone  knew 
how  many  millions  of  dollars  besides ;  and 
the  rumor  flew  until  it  reached  the  ears  of 
Mrs.  Dillenbeck's  maid,  who  promptly  re- 

72 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

peated  it  to  her  mistress,  thereby  filling 
her  soul  with  an  awful  dread. 

She  instantly  made  up  her  mind  that 
something  must  be  done  to  prevent  the 
young  "  hussy  "  from  carrying  out  her  de- 
signs on  Dolly,  who  was  one  of  the  few 
persons  in  the  neighborhood  who  was 
still  unaware  of  them ;  for  the  news  had 
spread  with  the  rapidity  characteristic 
of  a  leisurely,  quick-witted,  gossip-loving 
community. 

Mrs.  Dillenbeck  found  it  convenient  to 
call  at  the  dressmaker's  a  day  or  two 
later,  and  it  was  an  easy  matter  for  her 
to  identify  Polly,  who  was  hard  at  work 
with  her  needle,  and  apparently  oblivious 
of  the  presence  of  the  visitor  and  the 
significant  smiles  and  glances  of  her  as- 
sociates. 

Mrs.  Dillenbeck  went  home  feeling  that 
her  fears  had  been  only  too  well  founded, 
and  that  either  her  son  or  the  designing 
young  shop-girl  must  be  removed  to  a 

73 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

safe  distance.  Polly  was  a  "hussy" — 
there  could  be  no  doubt  of  that.  She 
had  .suspected  it  as  soon  as  she  heard 
of  her,  and  a  single  look  had  sufficed  to 
convince  her  that  her  surmise  had  been 
correct. 

In  the  vocabulary  of  women  of  the  Mrs. 
Dillenbeck  type  a  "  hussy "  merely  signi- 
fies a  woman  who  is  pretty  or  interesting 
enough  to  attract  the  attention  'of  some 
man  who  ought  to  be  occupied  in  some 
other  way.  It  was  late  in  September,  and 
she  thought  that  a  six  weeks'  stay  at  the 
seashore  would  be  an  excellent  thing  for 
both  Dolly  and  herself.  That  would  dis- 
pose of  the  vexing  question  until  the  next 
summer  at  least. 

The  same  busybody  who  had  told  Mrs. 
Dillenbeck's  maid  about  the  Hunt  girl's 
threat  now  learned  from  that  domestic  the 
true  reason  for  the  sudden  departure  of 
the  family  nearly  two  months  before  their 
usual  time,  and  made  haste  to  impart  the 

74 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

information  to  the  innocent  cause  of  all 
the  trouble. 

Polly's  eyes  glistened  with  delight — 
what  girl's  would  not  ? — when  she  learned 
that  she,  who  had  been  utterly  ignored  by 
Maplefield  society,  was  considered  by  the 
wealthy  and  reserved  Mrs.  Dillenbeck  to 
possess  beauty  and  other  attractive  per- 
sonal qualities  in  a  degree  that  rendered 
her  dangerous  to  the  safety  and  well-be- 
ing of  the  best-looking  and  most  eligible 
young  man  in  the  county.  It  was  the 
first  great  triumph  of  her  life,  and  one 
that  she  enjoyed  far  more  keenly  than  any 
that  came  to  her  in  the  eventful  years  that 
were  so  soon  to  follow. 

Through  the  autumn  and  well  into  the 
winter  Polly  toiled  industriously  with  her 
needle.  Then  her  mother  sickened  and 
died,  and,  as  soon  as  the  affairs  of  the 
widow's  little  estate  had  been  settled,  the 
daughter  accepted  a  position  in  one  of  the 
largest  of  the  New  England  cities;  for 
75 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Maplefleld  had  grown  more  and  more  in- 
tolerable to  her  with  every  succeeding 
month.  She  remained  nearly  a  year  in 
her  new  home,  living  prudently  and  dis- 
creetly, and  yet  finding  time  to  make  a 
few  acquaintances  and  enlarge  her  sphere 
of  observation.  She  made  one  or  two 
trips  to  New  York  during  this  period, 
acting  as  a  buyer  for  her  employer,  and 
enjoying  with  splendid  zest  the  great  pan- 
orama of  metropolitan  life  that  revealed 
itself  to  her  in  the  streets  and  in  the 
theater,  to  which  she  went  under  the 
escort  of  the  drummer  from  whom  she 
bought  dry-goods  with  a  shrewdness  and 
caution  that  commanded  his  immediate 
respect  even  while  it  reduced  his  profit  on 
the  transaction. 

Her  first  day  in  New  York  convinced 
her  that  she  had  not  been  intended  for  life 
in  a  small  town  or  provincial  city,  where 
the  fact  that  she  had  begun  life  as  a  sew- 
ing-girl would  always  stand  in  the  way 
76 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

of  her  success.  Her  friend  the  drummer 
pointed  out  to  her  the  houses  of  some  of 
the  richest  and  most  famous  men  in  the 
town,  and  told  her  how  much  money  it 
had  cost  to  build  them,  and  how  many 
millions  of  dollars  had  been  accumulated 
by  their  owners.  She  learned  from  him, 
also,  that  in  nearly  every  case  the  for- 
tune whose  outward  and  visible  sign  was 
a  stately  monument  in  brick  or  stone 
standing  on  some  broad  avenue  or  quiet 
and  aristocratic  side-street  had  come  from 
the  very  smallest  beginnings.  This  man 
had  begun  life  as  an  errand-boy  in  a  big 
warehouse;  his  neighbor  had  been  a 
driver  of  mules  on  the  tow-path  of  the 
Erie  Canal;  while  a  third  had  actually 
sold  dry-goods  at  retail,  had  been  a  mere 
"  counter-jumper " — in  fact,  one  of  the 
same  class  from  which  the  Maplefleld 
shop-girls  took  their  beaus. 

It  must  be  a  wonderful  city,  she  thought, 
in  which  the  poor  and  the  lowly  can  not 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

only  achieve  such  splendid  success,  but 
afterward  be  allowed  to  enjoy  the  result 
of  their  labors.  In  smaller  communi- 
ties the  tow-path  and  the  ribbon-counter 
would  never  be  either  forgiven  or  for- 
gotten, while  in  New  York  they  were  re- 
garded as  a  matter  of  course.  "One  of 
these  days,"  she  said  to  herself,  "I  will 
live  in  one  of  these  beautiful  houses,  and 
then  the  fact  that  I  was  once  a  sewing- 
girl  in  a  dressmaker's  shop  will  never  be 
thrown  in  my  face." 

One  day,  Polly  Hunt,  acting  on  a  sud- 
den and  irresistible  impulse,  threw  up  her 
position,  packed  up  her  belongings,  and 
started  for  New  York.  As  she  emerged 
from  the  Grand  Central  Depot  she  saw 
and  recognized  Dolly  Dillenbeck ;  and  the 
glance  which  she  threw  at  him  from  the 
platform  of  the  Fourth  Avenue  horse-car 
was  a  distinct  bid  on  her  part  for  his 
acquaintance. 

She  changed  her  name  on  arriving  in 

78 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  city,  in  pursuance  of  a  determination 
already  formed  to  put  the  old  life  com- 
pletely behind  her  and  embark  on  some 
career — the  stage  seemed  to  her  the  most 
feasible — which  would  give  scope  to  what- 
ever artistic  talents  she  might  possess. 

It  was  by  accident  that  she  met  Dolly 
on  Broadway,  and,  knowing  perfectly  well 
who  he  was,  she  felt  that  it  was  right  and 
proper  for  her  to  accept  his  invitation 
to  dinner.  After  all,  she  was  alone  and 
friendless,  and  must  avail  herself  of  every 
advantage  that  came  her  way. 


79 


CHAPTER  VII 

WHEN  Polly  Hunt — who  will  be  known 
in  the  pages  to  follow  as  Maude  Wheat- 
leigh — after  a  short  period  of  instruction 
under  that  eminent  Shakespearian  scholar 
and  actor,  Mr.  Horatio  Rungdown,  joined 
the  Hustle  &  Hardup  combination  she 
fully  realized  that  one  of  the  great  oppor- 
tunities of  her  life  lay  before  her,  and  she 
resolved  to  improve  it  to  the  very  best  of 
her  ability.  Her  debut  was  made  in  a 
small  town  where  the  company  appeared 
but  one  night,  and  she  filled  a  very  small 
role.  The  event  attracted  about  as  much 
attention  in  the  artistic  world  as  the  ad- 
vent of  another  fly  in  a  slaughter-house, 
but  she  was  not  disappointed.  She  did 
not  wish  to  become  known  as  the  expo- 
nent of  insignificant  parts,  and  she  had 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

sense  enough  to  regard  this  period  of  her 
career  as  one  of  valuable  schooling.  Be- 
sides, Mr.  Hustle  had  promised  her  that 
Mr.  Freelance,  who  was  to  join  the  com- 
pany shortly  and  travel  with  it  for  a 
time  as  a  sort  of  general  factotum,  would 
strengthen  her  part  and  write  some  lines 
especially  for  her. 

Of  course  Dolly  was  present  on  the  oc- 
casion of  her  debut,  and  he  wondered,  as 
he  glanced  around  the  house,  if  she  seemed 
to  the  audience  as  pretty  and  fascinating 
as  she  did  to  him.  For  Maude  was  pretty 
and  fascinating,  and  clever  into  the  bar- 
gain— so  much  so,  in  fact,  that  the  lead- 
ing juvenile  lady  wanted  to  know,  on 
more  than  one  occasion,  why  Mr.  Hustle 
would  persist  in  filling  up  the  company 
with  clumsy  amateurs. 

Her  talent  and  good  looks  made  an  in- 
stant impression  on  Mr.  Freelance  the  first 
time  he  saw  the  play,  and  in  his  letter  to 
the  managers  the  next  day  he  expressed 

6  81 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

his  belief  that  in  engaging  her  they  had 
builded  better  than  they  knew.  In  the 
mean  time,  he  said,  he  would  develop  her 
part,  rehearse  her  in  it,  and  give  her  a 
chance  to  show  what  she  amounted  to. 
All  of  which  was  an  agreeable  surprise 
to  Messrs.  Hustle  &  Hardup,  who  had  en- 
gaged her  simply  and  solely  because  of 
Dolly  Dillenbeck  and  his  thousand  dollars. 
Mr.  Freelance  was  a  young  man  of 
diversified  talents  and  erratic  tendencies. 
In  a  theater  he  was  simply  invaluable,  be- 
cause he  could  make  himself  useful  in  a 
Irandred  different  ways.  He  could  rewrite 
an  act  or  strengthen  a  part;  he  could 
write  topical  verses  at  a  moment's  notice ; 
and  when  it  came  to  composing  romances 
about  the  principal  members  of  the  com- 
pany, to  be  used  for  advertising  purposes, 
it  was  acknowledged  on  all  sides  that  he 
was  without  a  superior.  A  dozen  times 
had  he  been  in  the  employ  of  Hustle  & 
Hardup,  and  a  dozen  times  had  they  quar- 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

reled  and  separated,  only  to  come  together 
again  a  month,  or  two  later.  Those  emi- 
nent managers  literally  swore  by  him, 
because  in  addition  to  the  traits  I  have 
already  mentioned  he  was  a  passed  mas- 
ter in  both  the  theory  and  the  practice  of 
strategic  finance. 

There  was  general  rejoicing  on  the 
night  of  Mr.  Freelance's  arrival  from  New 
York ;  and  when,  at  the  close  of  the  second 
act,  he  made  his  way  to  the  region  behind 
the  footlights,  the  members  of  the  company 
crowded  about  him,  each  one  eager  for  an 
opportunity  to  air  some  grievance  or  to 
get  inside  information  about  the  financial 
condition  of  Hustle  &  Hardup,  and  the 
prospects  of  the  ghost's  walking  regularly 
during  the  tour.  To  these  inquiries  Mr. 
Freelance  responded  in  a  jubilant,  confi- 
dent manner  which  served  to  prop  up  the 
spirits  of  the  actors  to  a  wonderful  degree, 
which  was  precisely  the  effect  that  both 
he  and  his  employers  had  calculated  on. 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

He  had  a  few  words  with  our  heroine,  and 
told  her  that  he  intended  to  change  her 
part  and  give  her  a  little  more  to  do — in- 
formation which  raised  her  to  the  seventh 
heaven  of  delight. 

Mr.  Freelance  was  as  good  as  his  word. 
He  began  work  on  the  part  of  Polly  Light- 
foot  the  very  next  day,  and  by  Sunday  he 
had  materially  altered  the  dialogue  of  the 
second  act  in  order  to  give  it  due  promi- 
nence. The  consequences  of  this  act  were 
described  in  a  long  letter  to  Mr.  Hustle, 
in  which  he  said  : 

"As  I  told  you  before,  that  girl  has 
great  natural  talent  and  is  making  won- 
derful progress.  Perhaps  there  was  n't  a 
row  when  I  gave  out  the  parts  for  the  re- 
vised second  act !  I  could  hear  the  cries 
of  the  wounded  a  block  off.  We  played 
the  new  version  last  night,  and  it  was  a 
great  improvement,  though  none  of  the 
others  think  so,  because  it  gives  Wheat- 
leigh  a  good  deal  of  the  fat.  She  got  a 

84 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

curtain-call  at  the  close  of  the  act,  and 
went  out  and  took  it  as  if  she  'd  been  star- 
ring for  twenty  years  instead  of  i  soubret- 
ting '  for  six  weeks.  You  ought  to  have 
seen  Pearl  Livingstone's  face  when  Wheat- 
leigh  took  her  call.  Upon  my  soul,  I  be- 
lieve we  could  get  rid  of  that  cat  and  put 
the  other  little  girl  in  her  part. 

"  How  about  that  moon-faced  dude  who 
put  up  the  thousand  bones?  Don't  let 
him  drop  off  the  hook,  for  we  may  want 
to  touch  him  again;  and  besides,  if  his 
protegee  does  as  well  as  I  think  she  will,  he 
might  be  induced  to  back  her  for  a  star- 
ring tour,  and  I  honestly  believe  there  'a 
money  in  it.  Sound  him  on  the  subject, 
and  remember  one  thing :  he  's  just  ripe 
now,  and  ready  to  fall  off  the  limb  j  and  if 
you  don't  pick  him  pretty  soon  somebody 
else  will.  I  hear  he  's  making  his  ducats 
fly  pretty  fast  as  it  is — I  know  he  dropped 
four  thousand  of  them  in  one  night  just 
because  he  got  an  anonymous  letter  say- 

6*  85 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

ing  that  the  double  naught  was  going  to 
turn  up  thirty-five  times  in  two  hours  and 
a  half.  Will  these  suckers  ever  tumble  to 
anything  ? 

"  But,  whatever  you  do,  don't  let  that 
old  fraud,  Rungdown,  give  her  any  more 
lessons  in  dramatic  art.  I  've  had  to  make 
her  unlearn  everything  he  taught  her,  and 
show  her  how  to  read  her  lines  myself.  I 
will  write  you  again  in  a  few  days  and 
send  you  papers  from  Cleveland  and  Pitts- 
burg,  provided  we  get  any  good  notices." 

One  evening  a  few  weeks  after  this  let- 
ter was  written,  Dolly  suddenly  appeared 
in  Troy,  where  the  piece  was  billed  for  two 
nights ;  and  accompanying  him  was  Gen- 
eral Whiffletree,  who,  having  become  very 
suspicious  regarding  his  young  friend's  in- 
terest in  the  actress,  had  persuaded  Dolly 
to  bring  him  with  him,  in  order,  as  he  put 
it,  that  he  might  see  for  himself  how  much 
talent  the  young  lady  really  possessed. 

It  was  nearly  eight  o'clock  when  they 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

reached  Troy.  They  drove  at  once  to  the 
theater,  entering,  as  they  thought,  unob- 
served, and  taking  seats  that  were  not  con- 
spicuous. But  Mr.  Freelance  saw  them, 
and  a  few  minutes  later  the  news  spread 
through  the  dressing-rooms  that  Hustle's 
"  angel "  was  in  front,  in  company  with  a 
man  who  looked  solid  enough  to  back  a 
grand  opera  company. 

It  may  have  been  because  of  the  pres- 
ence of  these  distinguished  visitors,  pos- 
sibly because  of  purely  artistic  fervor  on 
the  part  of  the  actors ;  but  at  any  rate  the 
play  was  given  that  night  with  a  degree 
of  smoothness  and  vivacity  that  was  sim- 
ply unprecedented,  and  produced  a  favor- 
able impression  on  the  audience.  As  for 
Miss  Wheatleigh,  she  fairly  outdid  her- 
self ;  and  when,  at  the  close  of  the  second 
act,  she  appeared  timorously  before  the 
curtain,  swept  the  house  with  a  modest, 
smiling  look,  and  then  disappeared,  Dolly 
was  simply  in  ecstasy,  and  even  the  Gen- 

87 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

era!  admitted  that  she  appeared  to  have 
some  talent — "if  it  could  only  be  prop- 
erly cultivated." 

A  very  proud  man  was  our  hero  that 
night  when  he  escorted  the  young  actress 
into  the  hotel  restaurant,  where  the  Gen- 
eral, with  the  dregs  of  his  fourth  cocktail 
before  him,  was  awaiting  them.  And 
never,  since  the  day  of  their  first  meet- 
ing, had  Maude  seemed  as  charming  and 
agreeable  as  she  was  during  the  little 
supper  that  followed.  She  paid  particu- 
lar court  to  General  Whiffletree,  told  him 
she  was  dying  to  hear  some  of  his  droll 
stories,  and  listened  to  everything  he  said 
with  an  expression  of  confiding,  round- 
eyed  reverence  that  not  only  made  that 
battle-scarred  veteran  feel  the  fires  of 
youth  once  more  in  his  veins,  but  actu- 
ally gave  Dolly  a  twinge  of  jealousy. 

"  Well,  what  do  you  think  of  her  ? "  in- 
quired our  hero  as  the  two  friends  boarded 
the  sleeping-car  for  New  York. 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

The  General  was  in  that  mellow  and 
tender  mood  which  can  be  best  brought 
about  by  cocktails,  champagne,  and  three 
or  four  ponies  of  brandy.  "What  do  I 
think  of  her?"  he  repeated  ponderously, 
as  he  deposited  himself  in  one  of  the 
cushioned  seats.  "  She  7s  a  winner,  my 
boy  j  and  if  you  were  to  put  that  woman 
on  the  road  at  the  head  of  a  company  of 
her  own  she  'd  carry  everything  before  her. 
And  that,  sir,  is  the  opinion  of  a  man 
who  has  been  going  to  theaters  for  more 
years  than  you  Ve  been  on  earth,  and  has 
seen  'em  all,  from  Rachel  to  Bernhardt. 
Is  there  a  drop  left  in  that  flask  of  yours, 
Dolly  ?  If  there  is,  just  hand  it  over  here, 
will  you  ?  " 

"You  can  keep  it  and  give  it  to  me 
when  I  see  you  in  New  York,"  cried  Dolly, 
suddenly  rising  to  his  feet  and  buttoning 
his  overcoat. 

"What  do  you  mean?"  gasped  the 
General. 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"  I  mean  that  I  'm  going  to  stop  here 
overnight.  There  's  something  I  forgot 
to  say  to  Freelance.  Good-by." 

"  Hold  on ! "  cried  the  fuddled  war- 
rior. "I  '11  get  off  and  stay  with  you. 
I  '11  see  you  through,  Dolly,  if  it  costs  a 
leg." 

But  Dolly  had  jumped  from  the  already 
moving  train  before  the  old  man  could 
reach  the  car  door,  and  as  the  cars  rolled 
on  toward  the  city  they  bore,  among  other 
live  freight,  the  angry,  suspicious,  and 
surly  General  Whiffletree,  who  instantly 
vented  his  ill  humor  on  the  colored  porter 
of  the  sleeping-car,  thereby  rendering  it 
incompatible  with  his  dignity  to  fee  that 
respectful  and  diligent  functionary  the 
next  morning. 

Meantime  Doll^  was  driving  rapidly  to 
the  hotel  in  order  to  see  Miss  Wheatleigh 
before  she  went  to  bed.  He  found  her  in 
one  of  the  reception-rooms  talking  with 
Mr.  Freelance — she  mentioned  that  he 

90 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

was  merely  instructing  her  in  her  role — 
and  as  soon  as  that  invaluable  factotum 
had  departed  she  yawned  and  remarked 
that  she  was  tired  and  sleepy. 

"  My  dear,"  cried  Dillenbeck,  throwing 
his  arm  about  her  and  boldly  attempting 
to  draw  her  toward  him,  "so  am  I  tired 
and  sleepy ;  but  we  '11  have  just  one  bottle 
first,  and  then — " 

In  an  instant  the  young  girl  was  stand- 
ing before  him  with  flashing  eyes  and 
heaving  breast. 

"  You  dare  to  speak  to  me  like  that !  " 
she  exclaimed,  looking  down  at  him  with 
an  indignation  which  he  literally  did  not 
dare  to  face.  She  stood  for  a  single 
moment  a  picture  of  wounded  virtue; 
then  her  lips  quivered,  she  turned  away, 
and,  covering  her  face  with  both  hands, 
burst  into  a  flood  of  tears. 

"My  dear  Miss  Wheatleigh,  I  really 
assure  you  I  had  n't  the  least  idea  of  say- 
ing anything  that  would  offend  you,"  cried 
91 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

our  hero,  in  great  alarm.  "  Now  I  beg  of 
you—" 

"  Mr.  Dillenbeck,"  exclaimed  the  young 
actress,  in  calm,  measured  tones,  "  leave 
me  this  instant !  " 

And  poor  Dolly  took  his  hat  and  coat 
and  slunk  off,  a  picture  of  shame  and  de- 
jection. 

A  few  minutes  later,  as  Miss  Wheat- 
leigh  was  unlocking  the  door  of  her  room, 
Mr.  Freelance  emerged  from  the  shadowy 
corridors  and  saluted  her. 

"That  you,  Billy?"  she  rejoined,  in 
cheerful  accents  j  for  she  had  completely 
regained  her  equanimity  by  this  time. 
"  I  '11  tell  you  what  I  want  you  to  do  for 
me  one  of  these  days,"  she  continued.  "  I 
want  you  to  write  a  play  with  a  star  part 
of  a  girl  who  is  called  upon  to  rebuke  the 
tempter,  and  who  does  it  in  great  style, 
and  at  the  same  time  does  n't  lose  her  grip 
on  him.  And  I  want  to  play  that  part." 

"  Been  rehearsing  it  already,  I  suppose," 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

remarked  Mr.  Freelance,  with  a  faint  show 
of  interest. 

"  Good-night,  Billy,"  was  her  only  reply. 

"  Good-night,  dear,"  said  Mr.  Freelance. 

And  then  Maude  went  into  her  room 
and  locked  the  door  in  a  resolute,  emphatic 
way  that  did  not  escape  the  notice  of  Mr. 
Hustle's  accomplished  business  manager. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ONE  fine  Saturday  afternoon  Dolly  Dil- 
lenbeck  stood  at  the  corner  of  Broadway 
and  Twenty-third  Street  talking  to  his 
old  boyhood  friend,  Joe  Whitcomb,  now 
a  sturdy,  sensible,  prosperous  young  man 
of  business,  who  had  just  left  his  home  in 
Maplefield  for  a  short  trip  to  New  York. 
He  had  met  and  recognized  his  old  play- 
mate on  Broadway,  and  the  young  metro- 
politan, whose  heart  had  always  been  a 
healthier  organ  than  his  brain,  was  un- 
feignedly  glad  to  see  him,  and  to  have  an 
opportunity  to  show  him  round  the  city. 

"  What  a  lucky  thing,  old  man,  that  I 
chanced  to  run  across  you !  "  he  exclaimed 
as  he  took  his  old  friend  by  the  arm.  "  Now 
we  '11  just  take  a  little  walk  up  Broadway, 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

and  then  we  '11  have  dinner  somewhere, 
and  try  to  fill  in  the  evening  in  one  way 
or  another.  But  remember,  while  yon  're 
traveling  with  me  your  money  don't  go. 
I  've  got  a  wad  in  my  pocket  you  could  n't 
make  a  dent  in  with  a  brick." 

To  do  our  hero  justice,  it  must  be  said 
of  him  that  he  honestly  rejoiced  in  the 
possession  of  wealth,  and  that  his  heart 
was  filled  with  a  generous  desire  to  make 
all  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact 
sharers,  to  a  certain  extent,  in  his  pros- 
perity. But  his  vanity — which,  after  all, 
was  of  a  simple,  good-natured  kind — was 
his  ruling  characteristic,  and  was  the  chief 
cause  of  the  foolish  excesses  which  had  al- 
ready made  him  a  marked  figure  in  those 
strata  of  society  which  crop  out  so  abun- 
dantly along  upper  Broadway.  He  was 
sincere  in  his  wish  to  entertain  his  old 
playmate  to  the  very  best  of  his  ability, 
but  at  the  same  time  he  wished  to  impress 
upon  him  the  fact  that  T.  Adolphus  Dil- 
95 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

lenbeck  was  a  young  man  of  some  impor- 
tance in  the  great  metropolitan  whirlpool. 
It  would  be  something  for  him  to  have 
Joe  Whitcomb  go  back  to  Maplefield  and 
tell  everybody  about  the  easy  and  familiar 
way  in  which  he  (Dolly)  took  his  afternoon 
stroll  up  Broadway,  and  how  all  the  prin- 
cipal citizens  whom  he  encountered  recog- 
nized and  saluted  him. 

As  for  Joe,  he  was  only  too  glad  to  meet 
his  old  friend  and  see  the  town  under  his 
guidance ;  so  he  willingly  turned  his  face 
to  the  north,  and  together  they  strolled 
up  the  famous  thoroughfare.  It  was  just 
three  o'clock,  and,  as  Dolly  put  it,  the 
"mob  was  out  in  full  force."  Unknow- 
ingly he  employed  the  very  best  word  he 
could  have  found  in  the  language  to  de- 
scribe the  crowd  of  people  who  pace  or 
hurry  or  wander  or  walk  up  and  down 
Broadway  between  Twenty-third  and 
Thirty-third  streets  every  fair  afternoon. 
In  no  other  place  and  at  no  other  time 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

does  so  much,  of  the  froth  of  the  metro- 
polis come  to  the  surface. 

The  stranger  who  finds  himself  swept 
along  in  the  current  sees  only  well-groomed 
men  and  stylish  and  sometimes  beautiful 
women,  and  from  time  to  time  catches 
a  glimpse  of  a  face  that  somehow  seems 
familiar.  If  he  be  an  observant  man  he 
will  quickly  notice  a  difference  between 
this  crowd  and  the  one,  for  example,  which 
patrols  Fifth  Avenue,  just  one  block  away. 
The  crowd  is  much  denser  here ;  there  are 
more  men  of  spare  build  and  keen,  clear- 
cut  profiles ;  and  the  women  seem  to  him  to 
be  better  dressed — though,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  they  are  not — than  on  Fifth  Avenue. 

There  is  another  peculiarity  about  the 
current  on  Broadway,  and  he  will  be- 
come dimly  conscious  of  it  by  the  time  he 
has  mingled  with  it  a  week :  and  that  is 
the  quick,  eager,  searching  glances  which 
its  component  particles  will  flash  into  his 
face  as  he  passes.  On  Fifth  Avenue  he 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

will  be  noticed,  if  at  all,  either  haughtily, 
smilingly,  compassionately,  or  carelessly, 
according  to  his  appearance ;  but  all  the 
looks  directed  toward  him  on  Broadway 
will  have  the  same  significance — "  Who  is 
this  new  man  ?  Is  it  worth  our  while  to 
bother  with  him  ? " 

Now,  when  the  New-Yorker  who  knows 
and  loves  his  Gotham  with  all  her  faults 
and  all  her  beauties,  as  only  a  New-Yorker 
can,  and  as  every  New-Yorker  should, — 
when  such  a  one  reaches  upper  Broad- 
way on  his  afternoon  walk  he  surveys  the 
passing  throng  with  a  peculiar  zest ;  and 
if  he  chance  to  have  with  him  a  stranger, 
he  will  point  out  to  him  the  different  men 
and  women  who  have  contrived  to  estab- 
lish little  separate  eddies  of  their  own  in 
the  frothy  tide  of  city  life.  He  will  know 
the  names  of  those  whose  faces  have  been 
in  the  public  prints,  and  some  who  figure 
in  the  interesting  photographic  collection 
at  Police  Headquarters.  The  experienced 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

New-Yorker  can  tell  at  a  glance  the  exact 
status  of  those  striking-looking  women 
who  pass  in  and  out  of  their  carriages,  or 
sit  in  the  front  windows  of  restaurants 
with  overdressed  men,  looking  out  at  the 
current  of  life  and  gossiping  about  the 
other  men  and  women  who  pass  by.  He 
knows,  too,  the  histories  of  a  dozen  or 
more  of  these  people,  and  when  he  has 
told  them  to  you  over  a  cup  of  coffee  and 
a  cigar  in  a  snug  corner  of  some  well- 
ordered  restaurant  yon  will  wonder  what 
force  has  served  to  bring  them  all  together 
from  so  many  distant  corners  of  the  earth 
to  walk  up  and  down  that  half-mile  stretch 
on  the  same  fine  afternoon. 

It  was  right  into  the  midst  of  this  froth 
that  Dolly  Dillenbeck  plunged  that  bright 
afternoon,  with  Joe  Whitcomb  on  his  arm. 
Their  first  stop  was  at  the  St.  Anthony 
Cafe,  into  which  onr  hero  sailed  with  an 
air  of  ownership  which  was  not  without 
its  effect  on  his  companion. 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"  Ah !  how  do,  General !  "  he  said,  plea- 
santly, as  he  entered,  and  then  added,  in 
an  undertone,  "  That  's  the  celebrated  Gen- 
eral Whiffletree  the  newspapers  make 
such  a  fuss  about ;  you  've  heard  about 
him,  1 'm  sure." 

"  I  don't  quite  recall  him  just  now,"  re- 
plied Joe,  dubiously.  "  What 's  he  cele- 
brated for?" 

"  Celebrated  for !  "  retorted  DoUy,  an- 
noyed that  the  mere  mention  of  the  vet- 
eran's name  did  not  make  a  tremendous 
impression  on  his  country  friend.  "  Why, 
he  's  one  of  the  best-known  men  in  New 
York,  a  famous  story-teller,  knows  every- 
body— regular  man  about  town,  in  fact. 
You  can't  pick  up  a  Sunday  paper  with- 
out seeing  his  picture  in  it,  or  else  some 
story  about  him.  Why,  I  thought  every- 
body had  heard  of  him." 

"Oh!"  remarked  Joe,  innocently  or 
malevolently — Dolly  did  not  know  which ; 
"I  supposed  from  his  title  that  he  had 
100 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

made  his  reputation  in  the  army.  Yes,  I  'd 
like  very  much  to  meet  him." 

A  moment  later  the  three  men  were 
seated  at  a  small  round  table,  and  Dolly 
was  telling  the  waiter  to  bring  a  large 
bottle  "  and  be  quick  about  it." 

"  So  you  're  up  to  your  old  tricks  already, 
young  man,"  said  the  General,  shaking  a 
jocose  forefinger  at  his  young  host.  "  The 
best  is  n't  too  good  for  you,  I  see ;  nothing 
but  wine  will  suit  a  high  roller  like  you." 
Then,  turning  to  Joe,  he  continued :  "  Your 
friend  has  been  on  the  turf  only  a  very 
short  time,  and  yet  there  are  very  few  of 
the  old-timers  who  can  hold  a  candle  to 
him  when  it  comes  to  setting  up  wine.  I 
have  seen  that  young  man,  sir,"  he  went 
on,  dropping  his  voice,  but  not  too  low  for 
Dolly  to  hear — "I  have  seen  him  sit  right 
here  in  this  cafe  and  open  twelve  bottles 
one  after  another  without  turning  a  hair. 
He  's  got  sporting  blood  in  him  all  the 
way  through." 

7*  101 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

The  wine  came,  and  close  behind  it  lum- 
bered Judge  Doonothing.  The  pop  of  the 
cork  awoke  Mr.  Rungdown,  who  was  doz- 
ing peacefully  in  a  warm  corner.  Both 
gentlemen  seated  themselves  at  Mr.  Dillen- 
beck's  invitation,  and  a  moment  later  the 
company  was  augmented  by  Senator  Hard- 
scrabble  and  Dr.  Puffe — both  genials  of 
the  most  pronounced  type. 

"You  want  to  look  out  for  this  man 
Puffe,  Mr.  Whitcomb,"  said  Judge  Doo- 
nothing, waggishly.  "  He  's  one  of  these 
wicked  newspaper  fellers,  and  he 's  liable 
to  write  you  up  pretty  near  any  time." 

"  He  seems  to  have  it  in  for  me  for  some 
reason  or  'nother,"  cried  Dolly,  merrily ; 
"he  gives  me  a  shot  in  the  paper  about 
once  a  week.  Say,  Major,  what  have  I 
ever  done  to  you,  anyway,  that  you  should 
use  me  like  that  ?  Have  n't  I  always  used 
you  right?" 

"  My  dear  boy,"  cried  the  scribe,  stretch- 
ing his  long  arm  across  the  table  and 
102 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

grasping  and  seizing  his  host's  hand,  "I 
have  n't  got  a  truer  friend  in  this  town 
than  you.  If  I  was  to  get  into  trouble 
to-day  there  7s  nobody  in  New  York  I  'd 
go  to  for  help  quicker  7n  I  'd  go  to  you." 

"  And  there 's  nobody  I  know  of  who  'd 
go  down  deeper  into  his  pocket  to  help  a 
friend  than  the  gentleman  whose  delight- 
ful hospitality  we  are  enjoying  just  now, 
and  I  call  upon  you  all  to  drink  his  health 
in  brimming  glasses;  no  heel-taps,  re- 
member." And  amid  a  chorus  of  approval 
Mr.  Eungdown  replenished  the  glasses  of 
the  company,  thus  artfully  paving  the  way 
for  another  bottle,  which  Dolly  promptly 
ordered.  They  had  already  had  three  at 
his  expense. 

"  See  here,  old  man,"  cried  Whitcomb, 
suddenly  drawing  a  roll  of  bills  from  his 
vest  pocket,  "it's  somebody  else's  turn  to 
buy  a  bottle  now.  Let  me  pay  for  this, 
and  then  if  we  have  any  more  we  '11  each 
put  up  in  turn.  —  Don't  you  think  that 's 
103 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

right?"  he  inquired,  turning  to  Senator 
Hardscrabble,  who  sat  at  his  left  with 
his  head  bowed  on  his  chest,  dreaming  the 
happy  hours  away  in  an  imaginary  game 
of  draw. 

"  That 's  all  right,"  said  the  statesman, 
cheerfully,  "  but  it 's  my  edge,  remember 
that.  I  'm  on  the  left  of  the  dealer." 

"  That  brings  it  on  to  you,  General,"  con- 
tinued Joe,  taking  up  the  Senator's  idea ; 
"raise  the  ante  and  the  edge  passes." 

"I  don't  understand  you,  sir,"  replied  the 
General,  with  much  dignity.  And  then 
Dolly  turned  the  conversation  into  other 
channels  by  saying  positively,  "  Not  a  bit 
of  it,  Joe.  I  told  you  I  had  a  wad,  and 
while  it  holds  out  these  gentlemen  are  my 
guests  and  I  won't  allow  them  to  spend  a 
cent." 

But  Joe's  proposition  to  share  the  ex- 
pense of  the  entertainment  seemed  to 
have  cast  a  gloom  over  the  company,  and 
checked  the  tide  of  whole-souled  geniality, 

104 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

bringing  in  its  stead  a  feeling  of  unrest 
and  apprehension  similar  to  that  which 
had  prevailed  on  a  certain  memorable 
evening  about  three  weeks  before,  when 
Judge  Doonothing,  while  reaching  across 
the  table  for  a  match,  accidentally  touched 
the  bell  and  brought  the  waiter  to  the 
table  on  the  dead  run. 

From  the  St.  Anthony  House  the  two 
friends  strolled  slowly  uptown  until  they 
reached  a  small  and  handsomely  furnished 
saloon  much  frequented  by  the  hangers-on 
of  the  theatrical  profession.  A  portly  man, 
well  advanced  in  years,  who  was  seated  at 
a  table  on  which  there  was  nothing  but  a 
match-box,  saluted  Dolly  with  eager  cor- 
diality as  they  entered. 

"  There 's  one  of  the  best-known  charac- 
ters in  New  York,"  exclaimed  Dolly,  "  and 
I  think  I  'd  better  ask  him  over  here  to 
have  a  glass  of  wine  with  us." 

"  You  seem  to  have  a  wide  acquaintance 
among  well-known  characters,"  remarked 
105 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Joe  Whitcomb,  as  he  eyed  the  stranger 
dubiously.  "  What  sort  of  a  character  is 
this  one?  Does  he  tell  stories  or  drink 
rum  ?  He  looks  as  if  he  were  capable  of 
doing  both." 

Unconsciously  and  carelessly  the  young 
provincial  had  uttered  a  solemn  truth. 
During  the  period  which  had  elapsed 
since  Dolly's  emancipation  from  maternal 
restraint  he  had  formed  the  acquaintance 
of  an  enormous  number  of  men  of  the  sort 
usually  described  as  "great  characters" 
or  "  odd  geniuses,"  and  of  whom  there  is 
always  a  plentiful  supply  along  upper 
Broadway,  where  they  may  be  found  on 
both  sides  of  the  street. 

Many  and  various  are  the  qualities  and 
peculiarities  that  go  to  make  up  one  of 
these  "characters";  but  no  matter  how 
eccentric  or  odd  they  may  be,  it  has  been 
noticed  that  there  is  one  trait  which  they 
all  possess  in  common,  and  that  is  a  fond- 
ness for  strong  drink.  It  is  for  that  rea- 
106 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

son,  possibly,  that  they  may  be  encoun- 
tered in  the  greatest  profusion  and  variety 
in  saloons  and  cafes,  and  very  seldom  on 
church  steps  or  at  scientific  lectures. 

It  often  happens  that  a  man  becomes  a 
legitimate  and  thoroughly  well-authenti- 
cated "  character  "  on  the  strength  of  some 
one  happening  or  episode  or  experience 
in  his  life,  by  virtue  of  which  he  is  en- 
titled forever  after  to  the  consideration, 
esteem,  and  hospitality  of  his  fellow-men. 
It  was  to  this  class  of  "  characters  "  that 
the  elderly  man  at  the  barren  table  be- 
longed; and  his  claim  to  popular  regard 
and  the  free  cigars  and  drinks  incident  to 
it  rested  on  the  fact — recited  many  times 
a  day  between  Twenty-third  and  Forty- 
second  streets — that  it  was  he  who  had  put 
out  the  gas  the  last  time  that  Edwin  For- 
rest played.  It  was  true  that  he  had  not 
been  known  to  do  a  stroke  of  work  of  any 
description  since  the  fateful  night  when 
it  devolved  upon  him,  as  gasman  of  the 
107 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

theater,  to  extinguish  the  lights  at  the 
close  of  the  last  Forrest  engagement ;  thus 
marking  the  end  of  the  tragedian's  career 
and  the  beginning  of  his  own,  for  from 
that  hour  Broadway  claimed  him  as  a 
"great  character." 

Like  others  of  his  kind,  the  old-time 
gasman — nearly  all  of  New  York's  "  great 
characters,"  by  the  way,  rejoice  in  the  sub- 
sidiary title  of  "  old-timer" — was  ready  for 
a  drink,  and  was  not  averse  to  recounting, 
at  considerable  length,  the  circumstances 
under  which  he  performed  the  melancholy 
duty  which  had  transformed  him  from  a 
simple  mechanic  into  one  of  the  recognized 
celebrities  of  the  town. 

Dolly  paid  for  the  bottle  of  champagne 
which  the  three  drank,  and  would  have 
ordered  another  had  not  Joe  entered  a 
strong  protest,  greatly  to  the  disgust  of 
the  old-timer,  who  cheerfully  announced 
his  entire  willingness  to  remain  with  his 
youngfriends  for  the  rest  of  the  afternoon. 

108 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"Great  character,  that,"  said  Dolly, 
gaily,  as  the  two  friends  found  them- 
selves once  more  on  the  sidewalk.  But 
Joe  Whitcomb  made  no  reply.  He  was 
thinking  rather  sadly  of  the  foolish  course 
that  his  friend  was  pursuing,  and  trying 
to  hit  upon  some  plan  to  save  him  from 
the  inevitable  results  of  his  folly. 

A  little  later,  as  they  were  strolling  up 
Broadway,  a  well-dressed,  alert-looking 
man  paused  a  moment  in  his  walk  to 
shake  hands  with  Dolly  and  say  to  him, 
"Drop  into  the  office  this  P.  M.  if  you 
have  time.  I  'm  just  back  from  Pittsburg, 
and  I  've  got  a  message  for  you  from  a 
particular  friend  of  yours." 

"  A  message  ?  What  is  it  ? "  cried  Dolly, 
excitedly.  "  Is  she  doing  well  there  ? " 

"  Doing  well !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Hustle  — 
for  it  was  he — "I  tell  you,  my  boy,  that 
little  girl  is  great,  and  the  time  is  not  far 
off  when  you  '11  have  reason  to  be  proud 
of  the  fact  that  you  were  the  first  one  to 
109 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

start  her  in  the  theatrical  business.  Come 
around  and  I  '11  tell  you  all  about  it." 

"Who's  that?"  asked  Joe,  as  they 
walked  along  together. 

"  Oh,  that 's  Mr.  Hustle,  one  of  the  best- 
known  theatrical  managers  in  the  city,  and 
a  particular  friend  of  mine.  By  the  way, 
I  've  an  appointment  with  him  this  after- 
noon that  I  quite  forgot  about;  so  in  a 
little  while  I  '11  ask  you  to  excuse  me  for 
half  an  hour  or  so,  and  then  1 711  join  you 
later." 

"  And  who  's  that  ? "  asked  Joe  again,  as 
a  man  of  striking  appearance,  with  iron- 
gray  hair,  a  long  white  mustache,  and  a 
handsome,  impassive,  clean-cut  face,  bowed 
and  smiled  with  marked  cordiality. 

"That's — well,  that's  a  well-known 
sporting  man  and  bookmaker.  I  drop  in 
and  call  on  him  once  in  a  while.  He  's  a 
thoroughbred  sport,  and  square  as  a  die." 

Just  at  that  moment  the  handsome, 
well-dressed  man  was  saying  to  his  com- 
110 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

panion,  "  I  only  wish  the  town  was  full 
of  such  fellows  as  that.  He  comes  into 
my  place  once  in  a  while  and  drops  a  few 
hundred." 

"  He  looks  to  me  like  the  sort  of  duck 
that  'ud  play  the  wheel,"  rejoined  the  other, 
who  had  taken  in  Dolly's  simple  visage 
with  one  of  the  swift,  searching  glances  I 
have  already  spoken  of  as  peculiar  to  this 
part  of  the  town. 

"  Those  fellows  always  play  the  wheel ; 
and  what 's  more,  we  generally  have  the 
wheel  ready  for  them  in  case  they  call," 
said  the  first  speaker,  significantly. 

Our  hero  soon  found  a  comfortable  seat 
in  a  cafe  in  which  to  deposit  his  friend,  and 
then  made  the  best  of  his  way  to  the  office 
of  Hustle  &  Hardup,  where  the  senior 
member  of  the  firm  was  awaiting  him  in 
a  condition  of  nervous  anxiety  which  he 
skilfully  concealed  under  a  mask  of  indif- 
ference. 

"Hullo,  DiUenbeck!"  he  cried  cheer- 
ill 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

fully,  as  Dolly  presented  himself.  "  Come 
in  here  and  shut  the  door  behind  you,  so 
we  won't  be  bothered.  I  thought  maybe 
you  'd  like  to  read  some  of  Miss  Wheat- 
leigh's  notices  and  hear  how  she  's  get- 
ting along.  Well,  there  are  the  Pittsburg 
papers  ;  and  she  knocked  'em  out  the  same 
way  in  Buffalo  and  Cleveland.  Just  listen 
to  this :  '  Miss  Maude  Wheatleigh,  a  young 
and  extremely  pretty  actress,  made  a  dis- 
tinct hit  in  the  comparatively  unimportant 
role  of  Polly  Liglitfoot,  which  she  played 
with  a  refinement,  delicacy,  and  humor 
which  completely  captivated  her  audience, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  second  act  won 
her  an  enthusiastic  call.'  Here  's  another 
from  the  most  conservative  paper  in  west- 
ern Pennsylvania:  'At  the  close  of  the 
second  act  a  spontaneous  call  from  all 
parts  of  the  house  brought  Polly  lAglitfoot 
before  the  curtain.  Miss  Maude  Wheat- 
leigh, who  sustains  this  role,  is  one  of  the 
most  promising  young  actresses  seen  here 

112 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

in  a  long  while.  She  is  beautiful  as  well 
as  clever,  and  many  there  were  in  the 
audience  last  night  who  predicted  for  her 
a  brilliant  future  in  her  chosen  calling.' 
Is  n't  that  great  for  a  lady  who  's  been 
on  the  stage  as  short  a  time  as  she  has? 
I  tell  you  what  it  is ;  you  '11  be  surprised 
when  you  see  her,  she  's  improved  so 
much." 

"  How  soon  did  you  say  the  company 
would  be  in  New  York  ? "  demanded  Dolly, 
who  was  fairly  radiant  with  delight. 

"  New  York !  "  gasped  Mr.  Hustle,  hor- 
ror-stricken at  the  suggestion.  "  You  don't 
mean  to  tell  me  you  want  to  nip  that  girl's 
career  right  in  the  bud  by  bringing  her  to 
New  York  now,  do  you  ?  I  would  n't  con- 
sent to  it,  and  I  doubt  if  she  would,  either. 
The  part  she  has  now  is  all  very  well  for 
a  young  beginner — very  nice  ingenue 
part,  and  some  very  pretty  lines  in  it  I 
had  Billy  Freelance  write  in ; — but  if  she 
conies  before  the  New  York  public  in  it 

8  113 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

she  '11  be  lost  in  the  shuffle.  No,  sir,  I  've 
got  great  ideas  of  that  girl's  talents.  Why, 
if  I  'm  not  very  much  mistaken,  she  is  the 
coming  actress  of  this  country." 

Mr.  Hustle  uttered  these  last  words  with 
a  solemnity  that  made  a  deep  impression 
on  his  hearer. 

"  The  coming  actress  of  this  country," 
he  murmured,  in  a  sort  of  daze.  "And 
how  long  will  it  be  before  she  gets  here, 
do  you  imagine  ?  I  mean,  how  long  will 
it  be  before  she  will  come  out  as  a  star  ? " 

"  That,"  replied  Mr.  Hustle,  as  he  slapped 
his  visitor  on  the  back  in  the  confidential, 
spine-stiffening  fashion  for  which  he  was 
celebrated,  "depends  entirely  upon  the 
amount  of  nerve  you  've  got.  If  you  've 
got  confidence  enough  in  this  lady's  talent 
and  beauty  to  back  her  in  a  starring  tour 
my  opinion  is  that  within  a  very  short  time 
you  '11  not  only  have  reason  to  be  proud 
of  your  position  as  the  man  who  discov- 
ered and  brought  her  out,  but  you  '11 

114 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

be  making  a  barrel  of  money  into  the 
bargain." 

For  a  few  moments  Dolly  sat  gazing 
into  space  and  drumming  with  his  fingers 
on  the  table.  The  proposition  had  come 
to  him  so  suddenly  that  he  needed  time  to 
collect  his  wits  and  think  about  it.  Since 
he  first  embarked  on  the  career  which  I 
have  already  indicated  he  had  discovered 
that  there  was  one  crowning  triumph  in 
a  wine-opener's  life,  and  that  was  to  be 
known  as  the  man  who  was  "  putting  up  " 
for  a  popular  actress.  That  very  afternoon 
he  had  pointed  out  to  Joe  Whitcomb  a 
long-eared  young  gentleman  whose  vacant 
face  and  self-conscious  manner  made  him 
a  target  for  the  sharp  glances  of  upper 
Broadway,  and  whose  one  glory  was  that 
he  was  spending  five  hundred  dollars  a 
month  on  a  certain  flashy,  clever  woman 
who  belonged  to  one  of  the  principal  stock 
companies  in  the  city,  and  had  reached 
that  time  of  life  when  women  of  her  class 

115 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

feel  the  necessity  of  making  hay  before  the 
final  disappearance  of  the  afternoon  sun. 

The  callow,  long-eared  youth  whose 
precious  privilege  it  was  to  waste  his  pat- 
rimony on  this  hard-featured  autumnal 
flower  had  been,  but  a  few  months  before, 
a  simple  wine-opener  like  Dolly,  and,  like 
him,  he  was  of  city  birth  and  training. 
Why  is  it  that  all  the  most  distinguished 
of  New  York's  gudgeons  are  born  and 
brought  up  in  the  metropolis  ?  The  prov- 
inces seldom  produce  so  fine  a  quality 
of  fool  as  the  variety  that  is  nurtured  in 
our  own  soil. 

And  now  our  hero  realized  that  the  op- 
portunity to  leap  at  one  bound  to  the 
bright  plane  inhabited  by  the  long-eared 
one  and  others  of  his  kind  had  come  to 
him  unsought.  In  fancy  he  saw  himself 
strolling  into  the  St.  Anthony  cafe 
crowned  with  that  matchless  glory  which 
can  be  won  only  by  "putting  up  for  an 
actress  " ;  he  saw  the  genials  saluting  him 
116 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

reverently ;  and  it  seemed  to  him  that,  as 
he  made  his  progress  through  the  throng, 
he  left  in  his  wake  a  phosphorescent  chorus 
of  "There  goes  Dolly  Dillenbeck,  the  man 
that  7s  putting  up  for  Maude  Wheatleigh." 
It  was  a  vision  of  bewildering,  dazzling 
brilliancy  that  his  fancy  conjured  up  while 
he  sat  drumming  with  his  finger-nails  on 
Mr.  Hustle's  office-table — so  dazzling,  in 
fact,  that  he  was  afraid  to  seize  the  oppor- 
tunity of  realizing  it  without  taking  time 
for  reflection. 


117 


CHAPTER  IX 

ON  a  dismal,  rainy  Sunday  afternoon — 
it  was  the  day  after  Dolly's  interview 
with  Mr.  Hustle — Miss  Pearl  Livingstone, 
the  principal  actress  of  Messrs.  Hustle  & 
Hardup's  traveling  company,  entertained 
a  few  of  her  fellow-artists  in  her  room  in 
the  largest  hotel  of  a  great  Western  city, 
in  which  they  had  just  finished  their  first 
week's  engagement. 

The  floor  was  thickly  strewn  with  the 
mutilated  sheets  of  many-paged  Sunday 
newspapers ;  for  Miss  Livingstone  kept  a 
voluminous  scrap-book  in  which  she  pasted 
every  favorable  notice  of  herself  that  she 
was  able  to  collect  during  her  travels. 
Although  an  omnivorous  buyer  of  news- 
papers, she  never  read  anything  but  the 
118 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

dramatic  department  in  each;  and  the 
speed  with  which  she  could  find  and  clip 
from  a  forty-eight-page  Sunday  journal 
the  three-line  paragraph  containing  her 
own  name  had  long  been  the  theme  of 
much  admiring  comment  on  the  part  of 
her  professional  associates. 

These  same  associates,  however,  noticed 
with  secret  glee  that  the  havoc  made  by 
Miss  Livingstone's  shears  in  the  papers 
which  lay  scattered  about  the  floor  was 
not  nearly  as  noticeable  as  it  usually  was 
on  Sunday  mornings  in  large  Western 
cities,  and  that,  moreover,  two  or  three  of 
the  papers  had  not  been  cut  at  all.  From 
one  of  these  uncut  sheets  a  large  double- 
column  portrait  of  Miss  Maude  Wheat- 
leigh  looked  out  upon  them  with  a  plea- 
sant, self-confident  smirk. 

Miss  Livingstone's  guests,  to  the  num- 
ber of  three,  were  seated  at  a  round,  bare 
table  in  the  center  of  the  room,  engaged 
in  a  game  of  draw-poker  with  their  host- 
119 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

ess,  who  acted  as  banker,  and  at  the  same 
time  dispensed  occasional  hospitality  from 
a  tall  dark  bottle  containing  the  precious 
golden  juice  of  the  grain  and  bearing  the 
label  of  a  brand  which  enjoys  in  the  high- 
est degree  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
the  community. 

Miss  Wheatleigh  sat  directly  opposite 
her  hostess,  by  whom  she  was  treated  with 
a  courtesy  of  the  polished  and  elaborate 
sort  that  nothing  less  than  intense  femi- 
nine hatred  and  jealousy  can  prompt. 

"Seen  the  papers  this  morning,  Miss 
Livingstone  ? "  inquired  Mabel  Morris,  with 
a  look  of  round-eyed  innocence,  as  she 
shuffled  the  pack  preparatory  to  dealing. 

"I  sent  out  for  them,  and  I  guess 
they  're  here  somewhere,  but  I  have  n't 
had  a  chance  to  look  at  them. — It 's  your 
ante,  I  believe,  Miss  Temple." 

"  The  only  one  I  saw  was  the  Despatch," 
continued  Miss  Morris,  slyly  kicking  Miss 
Temple  under  the  table  as  she  dealt  the 

120 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

cards,  "  and  my !  but  there  was  a  beau- 
tiful notice  of  Miss  Wheatleigh,  and  a 
picture  too. — You  must  have  a  mash  on 
that  reporter,  Miss  Wheatleigh.  Can't 
you  get  him  to  say  a  word  about  the 
rest  of  us?" 

"  I  don't  think  much  of  your  dealing," 
cried  Miss  Livingstone,  hastily,  as  she 
threw  her  cards  on  the  table.  "  You  can 
give  me  five  more  and  I  '11  stay  in,  unless 
you  're  going  to  raise  the  price." 

"  What 's  the  name  of  that  Despatch 
critic,  anyway?"  inquired  Miss  Temple, 
carelessly,  as  she  discarded  two  cards. 

Her  question  was  addressed  to  Miss  Liv- 
ingstone, who  was  believed  to  know  the 
name,  age,  and  personal  characteristics  of 
every  dramatic  critic  and  city  editor  in 
every  town  and  city  in  the  Union. 

"  Billy  Fenwick  is  still  there,  I  believe," 
she  replied,  "and  he  and  I  don't  speak. 
— You  've  met  him,  I  suppose,  Miss  Wheat- 
leigh?" 

121 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"  Never  even  heard  of  him  before,"  re- 
joined Maude,  calmly.  "I  'm  sure  it  was 
very  nice  of  him,  though,  to  put  that  notice 
in  his  paper.  What  sort  of  a  man  is  he  ? " 

"  Like  all  other  men — thinks  that  if  a 
young  girl  is  an  actress  she  is  necessarily 
destitute  of  self-respect.  He  tried  it  on 
with  me  once,  and  I  just  put  him  where 
he  belonged.  '  Mr.  Fen  wick/  I  said  to 
him,  'you  seem  to  forget  that  you  are  ad- 
dressing a  lady  who  has  forgotten  more 
about  etiquette  than  you  ever  knew  in 
your  life.' — I'll  take  five  cards. — 'And 
as  for  the  notices  in  your  old  paper,  I 
would  n't  give  a  snap  of  my  finger  for 
them.  I  can  get  notices,  and  pictures 
too,  in  the  biggest  papers  in  this  country. 
There  's  nobody  reads  your  old  rag,  any- 
way. I  'm  sure  I  would  n't  buy  a  copy  or 
be  seen  reading  it — ' " 

"  Where  did  that  one  come  from  that 's 
lying  on  the  floor  all  crumpled  up?"  in- 
quired Miss  Morris,  suddenly.  And  then 
122 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Miss  Temple  snickered,  and  the  leading 
lady  grew  red  in  the  face  and  nervously 
raised  Miss  Wheatleigh  the  limit,  utterly 
forgetful  of  the  fact  that  the  heroine  of 
this  little  romance  had  stood  pat.  After 
four  raises  back  and  forth  Miss  Living- 
stone called,  and  Maude  displayed  a  king 
full  on  aces. 

"  Let 's  see  what  you  've  got ! n  cried 
Mabel,  who  in  company  with  Kitty  Tem- 
ple had  dropped  out  precipitately  on  see- 
ing that  Maude  called  for  no  cards  on  the 
draw. 

Miss  Livingstone  threw  her  cards  face 
down  on  the  table  without  a  word,  and  it 
was  evident  that  she  was  very  angry.  If 
Mabel  had  seen  the  look  on  her  flushed 
face  it  is  probable  that  she  would  not 
have  pushed  the  matter  any  further ;  but, 
eager  to  see  what  sort  of  a  hand  had  im- 
pelled a  player  as  cautious  as  the  lead- 
ing lady  usually  was  to  bet  so  recklessly 
against  a  pat  hand,  she  seized  the  cards 
123 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

that  the  other  had  thrown  down,  and, 
turning  them  over,  displayed  a  pair  of 
jacks  and  a  pair  of  threes. 

"Leave  those  cards  alone!"  snapped 
the  leading  actress. 

"  Your  hand  belongs  to  the  table,"  re- 
marked Maude,  who  was  thoroughly  en- 
joying her  triumph  and  the  discomfiture 
of  her  opponent. 

"  I  discarded  an  ace  which  bore  a  strik- 
ing resemblance  to  one  of  those  in  your 
hand,"  exclaimed  Miss  Livingstone,  in  a 
voice  that  trembled  in  spite  of  her  effort 
to  charge  it  with  a  full  note  of  icy,  with- 
ering sarcasm. 

"  She  stood  pat,"  cried  Miss  Temple. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  intimate  that  I  picked 
up  one  of  your  discards  ?"  inquired  Maude, 
speaking  very  quietly  and  looking  her 
steadily  in  the  face. 

Just  then  there  was  a  knock  at  the  door, 
and  a  moment  later  Mr.  Freelance  entered. 
He  saw  at  a  glance  that  there  was  trouble 
124 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

afoot,  and  the  jovial  salutation  died  on  his 
lips. 

"  I  think  I  '11  cash  in/7  said  Maude  as  she 
deftly  stacked  her  chips  into  heaps  of  ten 
and  pushed  them  across  the  table  to  the 
banker,  who  was  now  sobbing  with  rage 
and  vexation.  "  If  you  '11  be  kind  enough 
to  control  your  emotions  for  a  minute," 
continued  Miss  Wheatleigh,  "you  will 
find  that  you  owe  me  just  six  dollars  and 
a  half." 

Miss  Livingstone  buried  her  head  in 
her  hands  and  wept  afresh,  the  others  re- 
garding her  in  silence. 

Mr.  Freelance  withdrew  with  a  smile  of 
amusement  on  his  face,  making  a  sign  to 
Maude  to  follow  him. 

"May  I  trouble  you  for  the  six-fifty?" 
asked  Miss  Wheatleigh. 

The  leading  lady  raised  her  head  from 
the  table  and  detached  the  amount  from 
the  little  heap  of  bills  and  silver  in  front 
of  her. 

125 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"  There,  take  it,  you  nasty  thing !  "  she 
cried.  And  as  the  winner  carefully  counted 
it  and  placed  it  in  her  pocket-book  Miss 
Livingstone  threw  herself  on  the  bed  and 
gave  way  unreservedly  to  her  grief. 

Maude  found  Mr.  Freelance  waiting  for 
her  in  the  corridor.  He  laughed  heartily 
at  her  description  of  the  row  at  the  poker- 
table,  and  astonished  her  by  declaring 
that  it  was  the  most  fortunate  thing  in 
the  world  that  could  have  happened,  so 
far  as  she — Maude — was  concerned. 

"How  so?  "she  asked. 

"  Well,  she  's  been  very  sore  for  some 
time  because  you  Ve  been  getting  so  many 
good  notices,  and  the  sight  of  that  picture 
in  the  Despatch  and  that  column  article  in 
the  Recorder  was  too  much  for  her.  I  said 
as  soon  as  I  saw  them  that  she  'd  be  sim- 
ply wild,  and,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  went  up 
to  her  room  to  see  what  sort  of  a  mood 
she  was  in.  I  suppose  that  pot  you  raked 
in  with  your  king  full  was  merely  the 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

final  unendurable  straw.  She  'a  awfully 
close  with  her  money,  and  I  've  no  doubt 
that  losing  that  big  pot  was  a  sore  blow 
to  her ;  but  that  was  n't  what  she  was 
mad  about.  It  was  because  she  's  felt 
for  a  long  time  that  you  were  becoming 
altogether  too  popular,  and  that  your  part 
had  been  built  up  so  much  that  it  was 
beginning  to  overshadow  hers." 

"It  has  been  built  up — thanks  to  you, 
Billy — and  I  think  it  does  stick  out  a  little 
more  than  it  used  to — thanks  to  me.  As 
for  the  pictures  and  articles  in  the  news- 
papers, 1 'm  not  quite  vain  enough  to  ima- 
gine that  they  are  merely  so  many  spon- 
taneous tributes  to  my  talent,  and,  to  tell 
the  truth,  I  've  detected  your  fine  Italian 
hand  in  one  or  two  of  them — that  column 
in  the  Recorder,  for  instance.  I  'm  ever 
so  much  obliged,  Billy,  and,  believe  me, 
I  '11  never  forget  it." 

"  Well,  I  've  got  something  particular 
to  say  to  you  now,"  said  Mr.  Freelance, 

127 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

quietly  ignoring  her  expression  of  grati- 
tude, "  and  if  you  '11  come  into  this  cham- 
ber of  desolation  called  the  ladies'  parlor, 
we  '11  sit  down  for  a  few  minutes  and  talk 
about  it.  I  've  just  had  a  long  confiden- 
tial letter  from  Hustle,  who  's  got  into  a 
pretty  tight  place  financially  and  sees  only 
one  road  out  of  it — " 

"  And  that  road  is  through  Mr.  Dillen- 
beck's  pocket-book,  I  suppose?"  inter- 
jected Maude. 

"  Quite  right ;  and  an  easy  road  it  is  to 
travel  if  you  once  get  fairly  started  on  it. 
Well,  as  you  probably  know,  this  show  has 
been  losing  money  lately,  and  if  Hustle 
does  n't  send  me  something  I  won't  be 
able  to  pay  salaries  on  the  first.  They  Ve 
pretty  nearly  talked  young  Dillenbeck  into 
putting  up  a  few  thousands  for  a  starring 
tour,  and  I  guess  you  know  whose  name 
would  be  in  big  letters  on  the  printing  in 
that  event.  He  must  be  easy  fruit,  that 
fellow,  for  I  guess  they  've  touched  him 
128 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

pretty  heavily  already.  About  the  only 
thing  that  stands  in  the  way  now  is  the 
contract  with  Livingstone ;  and  I  'm  glad 
she 's  in  the  tantrums,  because  that  makes 
it  all  the  easier  to  egg  her  on  to  break- 
ing it  and  throwing  up  her  part.  If  they 
had  consulted  me  they  never  would  have 
signed  with  her,  for  I  never  had  any  faith 
in  her  drawing  powers." 

"  She  gets  great  notices  in  the  papers, 
though,"  interrupted  Miss  Wheatleigh. 
"She  's  got  a  big  scrap-book  full  of 
them." 

"  That  's  exactly  the  trouble.  She  's 
what  I  call  a  scrap-book  actress.  That 
book  is  her  very  staff  of  life.  She  gets 
all  her  engagements  on  it,  and  spends 
half  her  spare  time  in  pasting  clippings 
into  it.  She 's  got  so  many  strong  notices 
that  I  '11  be  hanged  if  I  don't  think  the 
critics  are  afraid  to  say  anything  against 
her  for  fear  they  'd  simply  contradict  what 
they  said  before.  There  are  a  whole  lot 
9  129 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

of  people  in  this  business  who  get  praised 
by  all  the  newspapers  and  are  never  popu- 
lar with  the  public.  Livingstone  is  one  of 
them." 

"  How  do  you  account  for  the  fact  that 
an  artist  can  please  the  critics,  who  cer- 
tainly ought  to  be  judges,  and  yet  fail  to 
please  the  public  ? "  inquired  Miss  Wheat- 
leigh. 

"  I  'm  not  quite  sure  on  that  point 
myself,"  replied  the  business  manager, 
thoughtfully,  "  but  I  rather  think  it 's  a 
case  of  the  difference  between  the  head 
and  the  heart.  The  playgoing  public  is 
a  distinctly  emotional  body,  that  does  n't 
take  much  trouble  about  the  niceties  of 
art.  All  it  wants  is  to  be  moved  in  one 
way  or  another.  It  has  a  stomach  that 
cries  for  emotional  nutriment,  just  as  a 
year-old  baby  has  a  stomach  that  cries  for 
milk ;  and,  like  the  baby,  it  neither  knows 
nor  cares  for  much  of  anything  besides  its 
own  particular  sort  of  food.  The  critic 
130 


"  THE  WINE  CAME,  AND  CLOSE  BEHIND  IT 
LUMBERED  JUDGE  DOONOTHING." 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

is,  as  a  general  thing,  a  man  of  more  than 
the  ordinary  degree  of  intelligence,  and 
his  brain  is  apt  to  be  tickled  by  something 
new  in  the  way  of  acting — something 
that 's  out  of  the  common.  It  may  be  a 
touch  of  genius  that  interests  him,  or  it 
may  be  merely  some  trick  of  gesture  or  in- 
tonation ;  but  if  it 's  different  from  what 
he  's  seen  before,  and  particularly  if  it 's 
altogether  unlike  what  he  expected  to  see 
when  he  came  into  the  theater,  the  chances 
are  that  he  '11  write  something  favorable. 
As  for  Livingstone,  she  's  been  playing 
directly  at  the  critics  for  years,  and  thinks 
very  little  of  her  audience." 

"  Did  you  ever  notice  the  difference  be- 
tween her  acting  on  a  first  night,  when 
all  the  newspaper  men  are  in  front,  and 
another  plain,  ordinary  night,  when  there 's 
nobody  there  but  the  audience?"  inter- 
rupted Maude. 

"  There  you  have  it  in  a  nutshell :  she 
does  her  best  for  the  critics  who  fill  her 

131 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

scrap-book,  and  she  won't  take  any  trou- 
ble for  the  people  who  buy  their  seats  and 
from  whom  her  salary  comes.  She  thinks 
that  it 's  the  critics  who  give  her  the  repu- 
tation, and  Hustle  &  Hardup  who  pay  her 
salary.  She  's  away  off  in  that  belief,  for 
it  'a  the  public  that  does  both.  Well,  my 
dear,  I  've  given  you  quite  a  little  lecture 
on  dramatic  art,  and  it  may  be  that  it  is 
all  wrong — as  far  away  from  the  truth  as 
old  Eungdown  was  when  he  taught  you 
how  to  act.  But  to  return  to  business. 
The  question  is,  how  can  I  induce  Living- 
stone to  break  her  contract  ? " 

"  If  you  don't  pay  her  her  salary  for  two 
or  three  months — "  began  Maude,  but  the 
other  interrupted  her. 

"  Then  it  would  be  Hustle  &  Hardup 
who  broke  the  contract,  and  they  'd  never 
hear  the  end  of  it ;  for  Livingstone  's  the 
most  persistent  litigant  in  the  profession, 
and  she  'd  take  the  case  through  every 
court  in  the  country  before  she  'd  give  in 
132 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

to  them.  It  's  a  lucky  thing  you  've  under- 
studied her  part.  I  hope  you  're  perfect 
in  your  lines,  and  I  hope,  too,  that  nobody 
in  the  company  knows  that  you  're  up  in 
them." 

"  Don't  be  afraid  of  me.  I  know  them 
backward,  and  you  can  bet  no  one  in  the 
company  ever  saw  me  with  the  part  in  my 
hand." 

"  I  guess  I  '11  go  and  have  a  talk  with 
her,"  said  the  business  manager,  after  a 
moment  of  thoughtful  silence  on  the  part 
of  both.  "And  in  the  mean  time,"  he 
added,  "  keep  out  of  her  way  and  don't  let 
her  renew  the  quarrel." 


133 


CHAPTER  X 

WHEN  Mr.  Freelance  was  admitted  to 
the  room  occupied  by  Miss  Pearl  Living- 
stone he  found  that  the  Sunday  news- 
papers had  been  gathered  up  and  ar- 
ranged, neatly  folded,  in  a  heap  on  the 
table ;  that  the  bottle,  glasses,  cards,  chips, 
and  other  implements  of  recreation  and 
refreshment  had  disappeared ;  and  that 
the  leading  lady  had  brushed  her  hair,  put 
on  a  becoming  wrapper,  and  seated  herself 
in  a  rocking-chair  with  her  back  to  the 
window,  with  a  volume  of  poems  in  a 
showy  binding  and  with  richly  gilded 
leaves  in  her  hand. 

The  business  manager  knew  at  a  glance 
that  the  actress  was  expecting  a  call  from 
somebody,  and  he  shrewdly  surmised  that 

134 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

that  somebody  was  himself.  An  associa- 
tion that  covered  a  period  of  many  years 
with  Miss  Livingstone  had  made  him 
thoroughly  familiar  with  all  the  artifices 
which  she  employed  when  dealing  with 
her  managers,  as  well  as  with  the  tricks 
and  methods  of  her  art.  The  wrapper, 
for  example,  was  associated  in  his  mem- 
ory with  many  previous  occasions  when 
he  had  been  obliged  to  call  on  her  to  set- 
tle some  dispute  with  her  managers,  or  to 
introduce  some  interviewing  reporter  or 
dramatic  critic.  He  could  hardly  repress 
a  broad  smile  when  his  eye  fell  upon  the 
volume  of  poems  with  its  gaudy  binding 
and  the  gilding  on  the  edges  of  its  leaves. 
That  and  the  scrap-book  constituted  Miss 
Livingstone's  entire  library,  and  whereas 
the  last  named  was  her  almost  constant 
companion,  "  The  Garland  of  Gems  "  was 
never  taken  from  the  zinc  trunk  except 
when  the  actress  desired  to  present  her- 
self to  some  visitor  in  a  highly  favorable 
135 


DOLLT  DILLENBECK 

light.  Mr.  Freelance  had  observed  long 
before  this  that  whenever  his  leading  lady 
prepared  herself  to  receive  a  call  from  a 
newspaper  man  she  invariably  disinterred 
the  book  of  poetry,  in  order  that  the  vis- 
itor might  find  her  engaged  in  literary 
pursuits. 

That  the  decorative  volume  of  selected 
verse  stood  the  actress  in  good  stead  is 
evidenced  by  the  scrap-book,  which  con- 
tains innumerable  references  to  it,  of  which 
the  following,  selected  from  a  hundred  of 
its  kind,  may  be  quoted  as  a  fair  example : 

"  Those  who  have  only  seen  Miss  Pearl 
Livingstone  in  her  marvelous  impersona- 
tion of  Beatrice,  Countess  Feathersham,  in 
'  Only  a  Perfect  Lady/  doubtless  think  of 
her  merely  as  the  stately,  polished,  aris- 
tocratic woman  who  has  been  born  and 
nurtured  in  the  purple;  a  true  noble- 
woman, haughty  in  carriage,  calm  and 
self-possessed  in  manners,  and  gracious 
to  her  inferiors  despite  her  evident  pride 
136 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

of  birth.  To  those  who  have  seen  her  only 
on  the  stage,  the  real  Pearl  Livingstone — 
the  woman,  not  the  artist — would  prove 
a  veritable  revelation  could  they  see  her 
face  to  face  in  her  own  apartment,  as  she 
was  seen  by  a  Bugle  of  Liberty  reporter 
yesterday  afternoon. 

"As  the  caller  entered  the  spacious 
apartment  in  the  American  House  which 
Mine  Host  Radcliffe  has  placed  at  Miss 
Livingstone's  disposal  during  her  engage- 
ment at  the  Opera  House,  a  slender,  grace- 
ful woman,  with  superb  auburn  hair  and 
eyes  of  exquisite  blue,  rose  from  an  easy- 
chair  by  the  fire  and  came  forward  with 
outstretched  hand  and  a  welcoming  smile 
on  her  lips — a  vision  of  loveliest  woman- 
hood in  a  long  shimmering  robe  of  some 
soft,  clinging  fabric,  well  suited  to  her 
peculiar  beauty. 

" '  You  find  me  with  my  favorite  com- 
panions/ said  the  little  lady,  with  a  smile 
of  winning  sweetness,  as  she  bade  her 

137 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

visitor  be  seated — 'Browning,  Byron, 
Tennyson,  Longfellow.  Ah,  how  I  love 
them  all !  Do  you  know,  my  society 
friends  in  New  York  say  that  they  would 
like  to  get  into  my  library  and  burn  up 
all  my  books,  because  they  're  so  jealous 
of  them.  Just  think  of  it !  Burn  up  all 
my  rare  old  folios  and  choice  editions  that 
I  've  devoted  my  life  to  collecting !  Of 
course  they  are  only  in  fun  when  they  say 
that,  but  it  really  makes  me  shudder  when 
I  think  of  giving  up  the  sweetest  source 
of  enjoyment  that  I  have  ever  known,  just 
for  the  sake  of  a  few  dinner-parties  and 
balls  and  receptions  that  I  really  care 
very  little  about.' 

"  The  book  which  Miss  Livingstone  laid 
aside  when  she  rose  to  greet  her  visitor 
proved  to  be  a  richly  bound  volume  of 
poems  carefully  selected  from  the  works 
of  the  best  English  and  American  writers, 
and  called  appropriately  '  The  Garland  of 
Gems.'  This  book  is  Miss  Livingstone's 
138 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

constant  companion  on  all  her  travels, 
and  is  a  striking  evidence  of  her  refined 
literary  taste." 

A  slight  smile  played  over  Mr.  Free- 
lance's  face  as  his  eye  fell  upon  the  famil- 
iar "Garland  of  Gems."  He  knew  that 
she  had  determined  upon  some  important 
move, — he  was  not  sure  what  it  was, — 
and  he  was  glad,  because  he  thought  that 
if  her  anger  and  obstinacy  and  jealousy 
were  sufficiently  aroused  to  blind  her  to 
her  own  interests  she  might  be  induced 
to  break  her  contract.  At  the  same  time 
he  did  not  for  a  moment  lose  sight  of  the 
fact  that  he  had  in  his  leading  lady  a  most 
difficult  subject  to  handle — a  prof  essional 
litigant  who  preferred  the  court-room  to 
the  stage,  because  of  the  more  generous 
facilities  which  it  offers  to  an  actress  for 
the  practice  of  her  art ;  a  woman  who  was 
thoroughly  cognizant,  also,  of  its  claims 
on  the  popular  attention  as  a  fountain- 
spring  of  free  advertising. 
139 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

He  knew,  also,  that  whereas  his  oppo- 
nent was  only  too  glad  of  a  chance  to 
appear  in  tears  and  a  tailor-made  dress 
before  a  box  full  of  sympathetic  jurymen, 
his  principals,  Messrs.  Hustle  &  Hardup, 
had  both  reached  a  period  of  life  and  a 
state  of  financial  and  other  entanglements 
which  rendered  them  averse  to  figuring 
in  the  fierce  white  light  that  shines  upon 
the  witness-box  any  more  than  was  abso- 
lutely necessary.  Unfortunately  for  his 
cause,  Miss  Livingstone  was,  as  he  well 
knew,  fully  alive  to  the  peculiar  condi- 
tions just  mentioned,  or,  as  either  of  the 
two  might  have  put  it,  she  knew  she  held 
a  strong  hand. 

"To  what  fortunate  occurrence  am  I 
indebted  for  the  distinguished  honor  of 
this  visit  ? "  said  Miss  Livingstone,  coldly, 
quoting  from  the  second  act  of  the  society 
drama  in  which  she  had  won  so  much 
renown.  The  line  occurs  in  the  scene  in 
which  Sir  Reginald  WheatcaJce  calls  to  offer 
140 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

her  his  hand  in  marriage,  and  is  received 
with  a  degree  of  cold  reserve  such  as  is 
usually  characterized  in  artistic  circles  as 
the  "icy  face." 

"  My  dear  Miss  Livingstone/'  cried  the 
business  manager,  "I  came  to  tell  you 
how  sorry  I  am  that  you  and  Miss  Wheat- 
leigh  have  had  this  unfortunate  misunder- 
standing. It 's  really  too  bad,  because  you 
both  occupy  such  important  positions  in 
the  company,  and  are  together  on  the 
stage  in  so  many  scenes,  that  any  coldness 
between  you  is  sure  to  become  apparent 
to  the  audience  and  mar  the  effect  of  the 
performance.  Now  if — " 

"  And  why  are  we  ~boih  important  mem- 
bers of  the  company?"  demanded  Miss 
Livingstone.  "  I  was  engaged  as  leading 
lady  by  Mr.  Hustle,  and  my  position  is 
distinctly  stipulated  in  the  contract.  As 
you  know  perfectly  well,  other  persons  in 
the  company  have  been  pushed  along  and 
had  their  heads  swelled  with  ridiculous 

141 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

notices  and  pictures  in  the  papers  until,  I 
believe,  they  actually  think  they  know  how 
to  act.  I  have  put  up  with  this  and  with 
other  forms  of  impertinence  for  some 
time,  Mr.  Freelance,  but  I  don't  intend  to 
any  longer.  It  is  not  that  I  am  afraid 
that  my  reputation  as  an  artist  will  suffer 
by  comparison  with  any  of  the  amateurs 
who  can  only  obtain  an  engagement 
through  the  good  offices  of  wealthy  young 
gentlemen  who  happen  to  take  a  fancy 
to  them — not  at  all,  Mr.  Freelance.  My 
standing  in  the  profession  is  such  that  I 
am  not  at  all  uneasy ;  but  I  don't  propose 
to  be  annoyed  in  this  way  any  longer,  and 
I  warn  you  that  you  had  better  return 
to  the  old  version  of  the  play  to-morrow 
night.  I  mean  the  original  version  that 
we  played  at  the  beginning  of  the  season, 
before  you  undertook  to  improve  it  by 
building  up  every  rotten  part  that  could 
possibly,  interfere  with  those  that  were 
originally  intended  to  carry  the  piece." 
142 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Miss  Livingstone  paused,  partly  to  re- 
gain her  breath,  and  partly  because  she 
had  reached  the  end  of  the  speech  which 
she  had  carefully  prepared  in  anticipation 
of  the  business  manager's  visit. 

"  There  are  so  many  people  in  the  com- 
pany who  have  wealthy  friends,"  remarked 
Mr.  Freelance,  thoughtfully,  "  that  I  can- 
not imagine  whom  you  refer  to.  As  for 
the  parts  that  have  been  built  up,  why,  of 
course,  I  have  endeavored  to  give  some 
prominence  to  such  artists  as  possess  tal- 
ents of  the  kind  calculated  to  make  them 
acceptable  to  the  public;  but  I  am  sure 
that  an  actress  of  your  experience  and 
talent  knows  the  artistic  value  of  compe- 
tent support.  I  cannot  control  the  news- 
papers, and  I  will  not  be  held  responsible 
for  the  ravages  of  what  you  term  the 
swelled  head.  It  is  a  disease  which  is  not 
even  confined  to  the  profession  which  you 
adorn." 

"You  need  n't  beat  about  the  bush 

143 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

with  me,  Billy,"  screamed  the  leading  lady, 
excitedly.  "  You  know  I  'm  talking  about 
that  thing  that  calls  herself  Wheatleigh, 
and  I  tell  you  now  she  7s  got  to  be  called 
down  or  else  my  understudy  will  read  my 
lines  on  Monday  night." 

"  What !  "  exclaimed  the  manager,  with 
well-feigned  horror  and  fear,  "let  Hard- 
brook  go  on  in  your  role !  You  know  as 
well  as  I  do  that  she  can  scarcely  play  the 
part  she  's  cast  for  now.  I  'd  rather  not 
raise  my  curtain  at  all." 

"  Very  well,  then,"  said  the  actress,  de- 
cisively, for  she  thought  she  had  him  at  a 
disadvantage,  "we  will  play  the  original 
version  to-morrow  night.  You  can  call 
a  rehearsal  in  the  morning  if  you  like." 
And  with  these  final  words  she  resumed 
her  perusal  of  "The  Garland  of  Gems," 
while  Mr.  Freelance  softly  withdrew. 

An  hour  later,  while  the  leading  emo- 
tional actress  was  pacing  restlessly  up 
and  down  her  room,  a  hall-boy  entered 

144 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

and  handed  her  a  note,  addressed  in  the 
familiar  handwriting  of  the  manager.  She 
opened  it  with  nervous  fingers,  and  then 
a  broad  smile  of  exultation  swept  over  her 
face  like  a  tidal  wave,  completely  wiping 
out  every  trace  of  the  anxiety,  malevo- 
lence, and  ill  humor  that  had  been  por- 
trayed there  but  a  moment  before. 

Within  the  envelope  was  a  brief  call 
to  rehearsal  at  eleven  o'clock  the  next 
morning. 

Many  were  the  conjectures,  busy  the 
tongues,  and  incessant  the  whisperings, 
when  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the 
company  assembled  on  the  stage  of  the 
opera-house  the  following  morning,  in 
obedience  to  the  manager's  call.  The 
story  of  the  quarrel  in  Miss  Livingstone's 
room  had  been  carried  from  lip  to  lip, 
and  discussed  in  all  its  phases  by  every 
member  of  the  company,  not  one  of  whom 
doubted  for  a  moment  that  the  leading 
lady  had,  as  she  usually  did,  asserted  her- 
10  145 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

self  to  the  representative  of  Hustle  & 
Hardup,  and  forced  him  to  return  to  the 
original  version  of  the  play  for  the  pur- 
pose of  humiliating  her  rival.  That  she 
had  gained  her  point  surprised  nobody; 
but  how  Miss  Wheatleigh  could  smile 
and  joke  with  so  much  naturalness  under 
such  circumstances  was  something  that 
not  one  of  them  could  comprehend. 
Either  she  held  some  trump  card  in  re- 
serve, or  else  she  was  a  far  better  actress 
than  she  was  supposed  to  be — and 
Maude's  talents  were  generally  recognized 
by  her  associates. 

Even  Miss  Livingstone  was  disconcerted 
by  the  other's  cheerful  and  unruffled  de- 
meanor, which  not  even  her  own  super- 
cilious tone  could  alter.  Outside  the  lines 
demanded  by  the  play  the  two  ladies  did 
not  exchange  a  single  word.  Miss  Hard- 
brook  was  not  present.  She  was  confined 
to  her  room  with  an  attack  of  rheuma- 
tism, Mr.  Freelance  said,  and  it  would  be 
146 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

necessary  to  put  some  one  else  in  her  part 
that  night — an  easy  matter,  as  she  had 
very  little  to  do.  It  was  the  leading  lady 
who  had  chosen  her  for  her  understudy, 
and  had  carried  her  point  with  Hustle  & 
Hardup.  She  had  selected  her  because 
she  knew  there  would  not  be  the  slightest 
chance  of  her  making  a  hit  in  the  role. 

At  a  quarter  before  eight,  while  Miss 
Livingstone  was  in  her  dressing-room  pre- 
paring to  go  on  the  stage,  Mr.  Freelance 
knocked  at  the  door,  and,  on  his  plea  that 
his  business  was  urgent,  was,  after  a  brief 
delay,  admitted  to  her  presence. 

"  Here  '&  a  pretty  state  of  things !  "  he 
exclaimed,  handing  her  an  open  telegram. 
"  We  Ve  got  to  play  the  new  version,  so 
you  'd  better  make  up  your  mind  to  it  with- 
out any  delay.  Just  read  that  despatch 
from  Hustle." 

"  Do  not  change  play  as  it  now  stands 
under  any  circumstances,"  was  what  the 
telegram  said  j  and  an  expression  of  bitter 

147 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

wrath  came  into  the  face  of  the  actress  as 
she  read  it. 

"  I  suppose  this  is  some  of  your  work," 
she  hissed ;  "  but  I  tell  you  now,  as  I  told 
you  last  night,  that  I  shall  not  go  on  un- 
less the  change  is  made.  I  don't  care  a 
snap  of  my  finger  for  Mr.  Hustle.  Let 
him  pay  me  the  back  salary  he 's  owed  me 
for  the  past  two  years  if  he  wants  me  to 
act  for  him.  No  indeed,  Mr.  Billy  Free- 
lance, both  you  and  Mr.  Hustle  ought  to 
know  by  this  time  that  1 'm  not  a  woman 
to  be  trifled  with ;  and,  what 's  more,  I  'd 
like  to  know  what  actress  of  my  standing 
will  go  out  under  such  a  shaky  manage- 
ment as  his?  It 's  me  that  draws  the 
people  into  the  house  to  pay  the  salaries, 
and  if  my  name  is  out  of  the  bill  the  busi- 
ness will  drop,  and  don't  you  forget  it." 

The  business  manager's  face  had  grown 
a  trifle  pale  as  he  listened  to  this  harangue, 
for  he  knew  that  the  woman  who  sat  be- 
fore him  in  an  old  wrapper,  hastily  thrown 
148 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

on  and  buttoned  about  her  neck,  was  an 
actress  who  could  boast  of  a  distinct  fol- 
lowing of  her  own.  Her  hair,  hanging 
loosely  down  her  back,  was  in  the  deft 
hands  of  her  maid,  who  went  on  with  her 
work  with  perfect  unconcern.  She  was 
accustomed  to  disputes  between  her  mis- 
tress and  her  manager,  and  as  the  former 
usually  triumphed  she  continued  to  make 
her  ready  for  the  part  which  she  had  just 
refused,  with  passionate  vehemence,  to 
play.  He  knew  also  that  the  course  which 
he  was  taking  was  a  desperate  one — that 
he  was  staking  more  than  he  could  afford 
to  lose  on  a  single  throw.  It  was  not  the 
first  time  in  his  life  that  he  had  taken 
such  risks,  and  it  had  always  happened 
that  it  was  on  account  of  some  woman. 
One  or  two  bitter  memories  came  across 
him  now  as  he  looked  down  at  the  hard 
face  with  its  ghastly  make-up.  For  a  mo- 
ment he  wished  that  he  had  not  allowed 
himself  to  be  drawn  into  the  quarrel. 
10*  149 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Then  lie  thought  of  the  other  woman  with 
the  bright,  laughing  eyes,  the  smooth 
white  skin,  as  yet  unspoiled  by  grease- 
paint, the  great  talent  that  needed  only 
a  chance  to  assert  itself,  and  the  thought 
nerved  him  for  what  he  had  to  do.  Be- 
sides, he  had  gone  too  far  to  think  of 
retreat. 

"You  see  how  it  is,"  he  said  quietly; 
"I  have  nothing  to  do  but  obey  orders. 
If  you  refuse  to  go  on  I  shall  have  to  do 
the  best  I  can  without  you,  or  else  keep 
the  curtain  down,  and  you  know  Miss 
Hardbrook  is  in  no  condition  to  play 
anything  to-night.  It  would  be  cruelty  to 
put  her  in  such  an  exacting  part  as  yours. 
I  really  think,  my  dear,  that  you  had  better 
reconsider  your  determination  and — " 

"  Reconsider  nothing !  "  exclaimed  the 
actress.  "  If  you  play  the  new  version  you 
play  it  without  me." 

"  Then,"  said  the  manager,  calmly,  "  I 
am  to  understand  that  unless  I  disregard 
150 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  explicit  instructions  of  our  managers 
— mine  as  well  as  yours — you  will  refuse 
to  go  on  the  stage  to-night." 

"  Precisely,"  said  Miss  Livingstone,  de- 
fiantly. 

Mr.  Freelance  shrugged  his  shoulders 
and  turned  toward  the  door.  Pausing  on 
the  threshold,  he  said :  "  Then  I  shall  have 
to  get  along  as  well  as  I  can  without  you. 
Shall  I  make  the  announcement  before 
the  curtain  ?  It 's  almost  time  to  ring  up." 

"By  all  means.  I  suppose,  then,  that 
I  need  not  make  up  if  I  'm  not  going  to 
play." 

A  few  minutes  later,  the  maid,  who  had 
been  sent  out  on  a  reconnaissance,  darted 
into  the  star  dressing-room  with  the 
tidings  that  the  business  manager  had 
stepped  out  at  the  prompt  side  and  was 
addressing  the  audience.  She  had  scarcely 
finished  speaking  when  an  outburst  of 
applause  brought  an  angry  flush  to  Miss 
Livingstone's  face. 

151 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"  I  'd  like  to  know  what  those  fools  are 
making  all  that  noise  about ! "  she  said, 
fretfully.  "Is  it  because  somebody  else 
is  going  to  play  my  part?  Well,  there 
won't  be  so  much  enthusiasm  out  in  front 
when  the  same  people  go  out  and  ask  to 
have  their  money  returned  to  them.  The 
idea  of  that  Hardbrook  girl  trying  to  play 
that  part !  Why,  I  don't  think  she  even 
knows  the  lines !  " 

"  If  you  please,  ma'am,"  said  the  maid, 
in  hesitating  tones,  "I  don't  think  Miss 
Hardbrook  is  going  to  play  it." 

"She's  not!  Well,  who  will  play  it 
then,  I  'd  like  to  know?" 

"If  you  please,  ma'am,  I  think  Miss 
Wheatleigh  is  going  to  play  it." 

From  that  moment  Miss  Pearl  Living- 
stone ceased  to  delineate  emotional  and 
hysterical  roles  under  the  management  of 
Messrs.  Hustle  &  Hardup.  And  in  after 
years  those  managers  rose  up  and  called 

152 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Mr.  Billy  Freelance  blessed  for  the  far- 
seeing  astuteness  which  disposed  of  a 
litigious  and  troublesome  star  and  gave 
to  Miss  Maude  Wheatleigh  a  great  oppor- 
tunity. 


153 


CHAPTER  XI 

PARTLY  by  reason  of  her  own  winning 
beauty  and  a  resolute  determination  to 
make  the  most  of  her  immature  talents, 
and  partly  because  of  the  diplomatic  way 
in  which  her  manager,  in  the  few  words 
which  he  spoke  before  the  curtain,  threw 
her  upon  the  mercy  of  the  audience  as  a 
young  lady  who  had  undertaken  the  diffi- 
cult leading  role  at  a  moment's  notice 
and  without  adequate  preparation,  Maude 
Wheatleigh  achieved  what  might  be 
termed  a  succfa  d'fotime.  By  that  I  mean 
that  while  her  performance  was  not  nearly 
as  finished  or  effective  as  that  of  Miss 
Livingstone,  who,  as  her  associates  always 
said,  "knew  her  business/'  it  was  not  so 
devoid  of  interest  and  color  as  to  be 

154 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

described  as  an  "  artistic  success  "  in  the 
journals  of  the  following  day.  Her  im- 
personation of  the  chief  part  won  for  her 
a  great  deal  of  hearty  applause,  and  no 
end  of  friendly  notices  in  the  local  news- 
papers, and  the  unusual  tribute  of  a  special 
paragraph  sent  by  wire  to  the  principal 
newspapers  in  New  York,  where  it  was 
read  with  deep  interest  by  the  various 
people  concerned  in  this  story. 

Mr.  Hustle's  eyes  flashed  with  delight 
when  his  glance  fell  upon  it,  and  he  lost 
no  time  in  showing  it  to  Dolly,  who  was 
tremendously  impressed  with  its  impor- 
tance as  a  tribute  to  the  beauty  and  ge- 
nius of  the  young  actress  who  had  come 
to  fill  so  many  of  his  waking  thoughts. 

"  Just  read  that !  "  cried  the  wily  Hus- 
tle. "  I  tell  you,  in  all  my  experience  as  a 
manager  I  never  heard  of  the  Associated 
Press  sending  out  a  despatch  about  a  lady 
who  's  been  on  the  stage  as  short  a  time 
as  this  one  has.  And  see  how  strong 
155 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

they  rve  put  it,  too :  '  The  talented  and 
beautiful  young  actress  who  pluckily  as- 
sumed the  role  at  a  moment's  notice,  and 
achieved  an  immediate  and  unmistakable 
success  with  a  large  and  critical  audi- 
ence ! '  Why,  that  little  lady  is  n't  much 
more  than  an  amateur  so  far  as  experi- 
ence goes,  and  yet  here  she  is  playing  a 
heavy  emotional  part  and  making  a  big 
hit  in  it  even  if  she  does  follow  Living- 
stone, who,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  very  best 
woman  in  her  line  in  the  whole  country." 
"  It  does  look  as  if  she  had  caught  on," 
remarked  Dolly,  whose  face  was  beaming 
with  delight  at  the  thought  of  the  rays  of 
reflected  glory  that  would  shine  upon  him 
as  the  young  man  of  sportive  tastes  and 
generous  tendencies  who  had  been  the 
very  first  to  discover  and  place  on  the 
road  to  fame  this  fascinating  young  girl, 
whose  beauty  and  genius  were  already 
beginning  to  attract  the  notice  of  both 
press  and  public. 

156 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Mr.  Hustle  must  have  divined  his 
thoughts,  for  he  slapped  him  confiden- 
tially on  the  shoulder,  and  exclaimed,  in 
the  convincing,  enthusiastic  tones  which 
he  could  assume  at  any  moment,  even 
with  bankruptcy  staring  him  in  the  face : 
"  My  dear  Mr.  Dillenbeck,  of  all  the  young 
men  that  I  know  in  this  town  you  are, 
without  exception,  the  most  to  be  envied. 
How  you,  a  comparatively  young  and  in- 
experienced man,  could  have  picked  that 
girl  for  a  winner  the  way  you  did  is  sim- 
ply an  everlasting  source  of  wonder  to 
me.  Two  years  from  now  many  a  man 
in  this  town  will  be  willing  to  give  a  good 
deal  just  to  be  able  to  say  that  he  was  the 
first  one  to  give  Maude  Wheatleigh  her 
start  in  life ;  and  now,  besides  that,  you  ;ve 
got  a  chance  to  make  a  pot  of  money  out 
of  your  discovery,  for  the  offer  I  made 
you  on  Saturday  holds  good.  Don't  for- 
get that,  my  boy.  We  recognize  that  you 
have  a  certain  moral  claim  on  the  pro- 
157 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

ceeds  of  this  young  lady's  genius,  and  I  'm 
willing  to  talk  business  with  you  on  the 
basis  I  mentioned  the  other  day  just  as 
soon  as  you  like." 

Dolly's  brain  was  teeming  with  bright 
pictures  of  future  glory  as  he  walked 
rapidly  down  Broadway  after  parting 
from  Mr.  Hustle.  The  young  girl  who 
had  enlisted  his  interest  such  a  short 
time  before  was  certainly  destined  to 
become  the  footlight  idol  of  the  town, 
and  then  he  would  be  known  as  her  ac- 
cepted admirer  and  discoverer.  The  more 
he  thought  about  the  splendid  dignity  of 
such  a  position  in  the  eyes  of  the  world, 
or  of  that  portion  of  it  in  which  he  moved, 
the  more  eager  was  he  to  bite  at  the  bait 
held  out  to  him  by  the  shrewd  theatrical 
manager,  and  become  the  backer  of  her 
starring  tour.  Something  seemed  to  be 
tugging  at  his  purse-strings,  which  were 
never  too  securely  tied;  and  before  he 
had  walked  a  dozen  blocks  he  had  about 
158 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

made  up  his  mind  to  assume  the  risk  of 
putting  Miss  Wheatleigh  forward  in  a 
new  play. 

There  was  something  pulling  at  his 
purse-strings  at  that  very  moment,  for,  un- 
known to  him,  Messrs.  Hustle  and  Hardup 
were  in  close  consultation  as  to  the  best 
method  of  bringing  him  to  terms,  while 
out  in  the  western  city  Maude  Wheatleigh 
was  preparing,  under  the  supervision  and 
stimulus  of  Billy  Freelance,  who  sat  at  her 
elbow,  a  long  letter,  couched  in  friendly, 
almost  affectionate  terms,  telling  the  story 
of  her  triumph  in  the  leading  role,  and 
artfully  hinting  at  the  great  possibilities 
that  lay  before  her  provided  she  could 
obtain  the  financial  support  which  was  a 
necessary  part  of  the  equipment  of  every 
young  actress,  no  matter  how  clever  and 
beautiful  she  might  be. 

"  Don't  forget  to  inclose  the  clippings," 
said  Mr.  Freelance,  looking  over  her 
shoulder  as  she  signed  her  name.  There 
159 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

were  fully  half  a  dozen  of  them,  all  com- 
plimentary in  the  highest  degree ;  and  in 
one  of  them  her  acting  was  said  to  be 
decidedly  better  than  that  of  the  woman 
whose  place  she  had  taken. 

"  I  '11  bet  Livingstone  was  mad  when 
she  read  that  one,"  observed  the  manager 
as  he  stuffed  the  pieces  of  paper  into  the 
envelope.  "  She  positively  glared  like  a 
wild  beast  when  you  took  your  curtain- 
call  at  the  end  of  the  second  act.  Well, 
she  broke  the  contract  herself,  so  kicking 
won't  do  her  any  good.  I  can  tell  you  one 
thing,  my  dear:  I  ;ve  taken  big  chances 
trying  to  put  you  ahead,  and  if  I  had  it  to 
do  over  again  I  '11  be  hanged  if  I  would  n't 
act  differently." 

"  You  've  been  so  good  to  me,  Billy !  " 
cried  Maude,  impulsively  j  and  then  she 
took  Billy's  hand,  which  was  resting  on 
the  table,  in  both  of  hers,  bent  her  head 
until  her  forehead  rested  upon  it,  and 
said,  in  low,  broken  tones,  "  I  owe  every- 
160 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

thing  to  you ;  I  can  never  repay  you  for 
what  you  have  done  for  me." 

"  You  read  that  line  very  well,"  said  the 
manager,  carelessly.  "  I  must  try  to  write 
it  into  one  of  your  scenes." 

Unconsciously  she  had  used  the  very 
words  which,  at  the  other's  dictation,  she 
had  just  embodied  in  her  letter  to  Dillen- 
beck ;  and  now  her  face  flushed  with  mor- 
tification as  Mr.  Freelance  withdrew  his 
hand  and  began  to  talk  about  the  busi- 
ness of  the  tour.  It  was  as  if  some  fine 
bit  of  acting  with  which  she  had  confi- 
dently expected  to  move  her  audience 
had  been  ruined  by  her  own  carelessness 
and  stupidity. 

"I  think,"  said  Mr.  Freelance,  presently, 
"  that  if  Hustle  succeeds  in  inducing  your 
friend  and  admirer  to  advance  money 
enough  to  float  you  on  a  starring  tour, 
we  had  better  cancel  our  dates  and  bring 
this  great  aggregation  of  talent  back  to 
New  York,  there  to  begin  preparations  at 
n  161 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

once  for  your  debut  as  a  star.  We  're 
sure  to  lose  money  now  that  Livingstone 
is  out  of  the  cast,  and  you  run  the  risk  of 
becoming  known  as  an  actress  who  can't 
draw,  long  before  you  have  a  fair  chance 
to  show  what  you  can  do." 

After  saying  this  the  business  manager 
withdrew,  leaving  Miss  Wheatleigh  in  a 
condition  of  mortification  and  self-abase- 
ment from  which  she  did  not  recover  for 
a  long  while.  It  was  not  often  that  he 
showed  any  resentment,  for  he  was  sin- 
gularly even-tempered  and  good-natured ; 
but  when  he  did  he  seemed  to  have  the 
faculty  of  saying  precisely  the  things  that 
would  redden  her  face  with  annoyance, 
and  at  the  same  time  not  offer  her  the 
least  excuse  for  a  sharp  retort.  To  tell 
her,  in  the  very  moment  of  her  triumph, 
that  if  she  played  the  leading  part  the 
company  would  go  to  pieces !  Of  what 
use  were  favorable  newspaper  criticisms 
if  they  did  not  draw  audiences?  It  was. 
1(52 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

brutal  of  him  to  say  such  a  thing ;  all  the 
more  so  because  she  knew  it  to  be  the 
truth.  And  then  to  mention  Dillenbeck 
in  the  way  that  he  did !  — her  friend  and 
admirer!  That  was  another  and  a  far 
more  bitter  truth.  It  was  he  who  had 
started  her  in  the  career  that  now  seemed 
to  promise  so  much.  He  had  started  her, 
too,  with  cold,  hard  money,  as  every  mem- 
ber of  the  company  knew,  and  it  seemed 
to  her  that  the  taste  of  the  bread  of  de- 
pendency was  forever  in  her  mouth. 

She  rose  from  the  chair  in  which  she 
had  sat  during  her  talk  with  her  manager, 
and  walked  over  to  the  window  which 
looked  out  over  the  roofs  and  steeples 
and  high  chimneys  of  the  bustling,  active, 
progressive  Western  town.  Her  thoughts 
went  back  to  the  old  days  in  Millbridge, 
and  she  wondered  why  it  was  that  the  little 
old  house,  with  its  cool  dooryard,  where 
the  sunlight  flickered  down  through  the 
leaves  of  the  maple-trees  to  the  grassy 
163 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

turf,  had  not  seemed  to  her  as  restful 
and  beautiful  then  as  it  did  now.  She 
remembered  how  her  father  used  to  wan- 
der off  into  the  woods  to  listen  to  the 
birds,  and  how  her  mother  used  to  fume 
and  fret  because  he  was  idling  away  his 
time  instead  of  busying  himself  with  the 
many  "  jobs  "  of  sign -painting  that  seemed 
to  be  forever  awaiting  his  brush. 

"  If  poor  papa  had  been  blessed  with  a 
little  of  the  vim  and  push  and  effrontery 
and  cheek  and  recklessness  that  have 
built  this  city  up  from  nothing  in  a  few 
years,  he  would  have  worked  at  master- 
pieces instead  of  jobs,"  she  said  to  her- 
self ;  and  then  a  smile  of  merriment  swept 
across  her  face  as  she  thought  of  Mrs. 
Dillenbeck  and  her  anxiety  about  her 
son. 

"I  only  hope,"  said  Maude  to  herself, 

"that  that  woman  can  look  down  from 

her  heavenly  abode  and  see  what  her 

promising  young  son  is  doing  with  the 

164 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

money  that  his  father  made  and  she  saved 
for  him.  Buying  drinks  for  every  loafer 
that  will  flatter  him,  and  putting  up  for 
an  actress!  Yes,  and  that  actress  the 
poor  little  sewing-girl  whom  she  wanted 
to  drive  out  of  Maplefield.  I  wonder  if 
Dolly  ever  knew  why  his  mother  carried 
him  off  so  suddenly  that  summer.  And 
is  n't  it  queer  he  never  found  out  where 
I  came  from  ?  The  truth  is,  he 's  so  busy 
thinking  about  himself  that  he  does  n't 
really  care  anything  about  other  people. 
Well,  I  hope  his  mother  can  look  down 
and  see  him  putting  up  his  money  to  back 
an  actress ! " 

The  remembrance  of  the  fact  that  a 
young  man  was  "putting  up"  for  her, 
as  her  professional  associates  termed  it, 
came  over  her  again  with  annoying  per- 
sistency. She  tried  to  divert  her  thoughts 
into  some  other  channel,  and  again  she 
stood  in  fancy  beside  the  bench  in  the 
old  shop,  and  heard  her  father  talking  to 
11*  165 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

her  in  low,  quiet  tones  while  he  worked. 
It  was  from  him  that  she  had  inherited  the 
talent,  genius,  power, — whatever  it  might 
be, — that  had  enabled  her  to  move  that 
great  houseful  of  people  the  night  before. 
Even  now  the  applause  seemed  to  be  ring- 
ing in  her  ears.  She  remembered  him 
now  with  a  tenderer  regard  than  ever 
before. 

After  all,  why  should  not  one  inherit 
an  artistic  temperament  from  a  house- 
and  sign-painter?  I  once  knew  a  bank- 
rupt who  possessed  the  very  finest  liter- 
ary taste,  and  who  had  been,  prior  to  his 
bankruptcy,  a  book-publisher. 


166 


CHAPTER  XII 

THERE  came  a  day  when  Dolly  Dillen- 
beck  entered  the  St.  Anthony  cafe  with  a 
look  of  exultation  on  his  face  which  was 
precisely  in  keeping  with  his  gorgeous 
fur-lined  overcoat;  and  that  garment 
would  have  made  him  a  marked  man  in 
any  community  in  which  straights  and 
flushes  enjoy  the  standing  that  rightfully 
belongs  to  them. 

In  homely  expressive  phrase  it  might 
have  been  said  of  Dolly,  that  afternoon, 
that  he  "felt  his  oats."  So  noticeable, 
indeed,  was  the  look  of  complacency  and 
importance  that  lit  up  his  round,  simple 
face  that  Judge  Doonothing,  Mr.  Rung- 
down,  and  two  other  well-known  genials 
rose  as  he  entered,  and  came  forward, 
each  from  a  different  corner  of  the  cafe,  to 
167 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

shake  hands  with  him.  At  Dolly's  invi- 
tation they  marched  up  to  the  bar  with 
the  promptness  and  precision  of  a  file  of 
veterans,  and,  when  the  glasses  were  filled, 
instinctively  turned  their  faces  toward  the 
gilded  youth,  as  if  they  expected  some 
word  or  sign  explanatory  of  his  exultant 
mood.  They  were  not  disappointed. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  Dolly  as  he  raised 
his  wine-glass,  "I  want  you  to  drink  to 
the  success  of  a  certain  young  lady  who 
is  well  known  to  one  of  you  at  least "  (Mr. 
Rungdown  bowed  with  suitable  humility), 
"  and  who  will  before  long  be  known  to 
you  all  as  an  actress  of  beauty  and  talent  j 
for  I  hope  that  you  will  all  be  present  at 
her  debut  as  a  star  in  about  six  weeks. 
Meantime  we  will  wish  her  health,  happi- 
ness, and  prosperity." 

In  this  manner  our  hero  made  known 
to  a  select  circle  of  his  intimates  the  out- 
come of  an  ardently  cherished  plan  which 
had  already  cost  him  innumerable  anxious 
168 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

vigils  and  long  consultations  with  Miss 
Wheatleigh,  Mr.  Hustle,  and  Mr.  Free- 
lance, to  say  nothing  of  various  cash  ad- 
vances and  guaranties  to  the  extent  of 
several  thousand  dollars. 

It  had  been  finally  settled  that  Miss 
Wheatleigh  should  make  her  appearance 
as  the  star  of  a  new  play  under  the  man- 
agement of  Messrs.  Hustle  &  Hardup,  and 
it  had  also  been  determined  that  Mr. 
Freelance  should  be  retained  to  devote 
himself  exclusively  to  her  interests.  This 
was  done  at  the  special  request  of  the 
young  actress,  who  had  already  formed  a 
high  estimate  of  his  abilities,  and  with 
the  full  approval  of  the  managers,  both 
of  whom  had  complete  confidence  in  his 
discretion,  sound  judgment,  and  unswerv- 
ing fidelity  to  those  who  employed  him. 
And  never  in  the  course  of  his  career  had 
Billy  Freelance  gone  into  any  enterprise 
with  half  the  enthusiasm  and  keenness 
that  he  displayed  now  in  the  interest 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

of  the  girl  whose  talent  he  had  been  the 
first  to  notice.  For  it  was  he  who  had 
the  right  to  pose  as  the  "discoverer"  of 
Maude  Wheatleigh,  as  Dolly  had  felt  only 
a  personal  interest  in  her,  and,  to  do  him 
justice,  a  generous  desire  to  help  a  friend- 
less girl  along,  while  Mr.  Hustle's  only 
thought  when  he  engaged  her  had  been 
to  secure  the  thousand  dollars  of  which 
he  stood  in  sore  need. 

"New  York!  Not  for  months  yet!" 
had  been  Billy's  re  joinder  when  Dillenbeck 
asked  him  how  soon  the  young  debutante 
would  appear  on  the  boards  of  a  metro- 
politan theater.  "  New  York  is  a  danger- 
ous place  for  a  new  actress.  Let  her  learn 
her  profession  in  the  smaller  towns,  where 
we  may  be  able  to  persuade  them  that 
she  'B  really  acting  and  not  making  be- 
lieve, and  then,  when  she  feels  sure  of 
herself,  and  we  feel  sure  of  her,  and  of 
her  play,  too,  it  will  be  time  enough  to  talk 
about  New  York.  It 's  a  great  show  town 
170 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

for  a  successful  star,  but  a  very  bad  one 
for  a  girl  to  fail  in  at  the  beginning  of 
her  career." 

So  it  was  settled  that  the  New  York 
appearance  should  be  postponed  indefi- 
nitely ;  but  Mr.  Freelance  proposed  as  a 
compromise  that  Maude  should  enjoy  the 
advantage  of  a  " grand  debut"  in  some 
city  not  too  far  away,  to  which  Dolly 
might  journey  with  a  party  of  friends  in 
order  to  give  her  what  he  termed  "  a  good 
send-off."  At  the  same  time  Mr.  Freelance 
stipulated  that  prior  to  this  debut  she 
should  be  allowed  to  practise  her  new  art 
on  various  small  communities.  In  this 
way,  Mr.  Freelance  informed  his  patron, 
she  would  not  only  gain  experience,  but 
he  himself  would  have  an  opportunity  to 
make  such  changes  in  the  play  as  might 
be  needed. 

To  this  compromise  Dolly  was  obliged 
to  give  a  reluctant  consent.  He  could 
see  no  glory  in  "  backing  "  an  actress  who 
171 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

appeared  only  in  provincial  towns  and 
cities  and  was  absolutely  unknown  to 
those  people  in  New  York  who  alone  knew 
what  a  wine-opener  was  and  could  appre- 
ciate the  honors  that  rightly  belonged  to 
him  when  he  reached  the  pinnacle  on 
which  dwell  only  the  elect  who  "  put  up  " 
for  starring  tours.  But  he  determined 
to  make  up  for  his  disappointment  by 
making  her  debut  in  Albany  so  bril- 
liant and  noteworthy  an  event  that  tid- 
ings of  it  would  echo  through  the  cafes 
of  New  York  for  many  weeks  afterward. 
His  little  head  was  full  of  this  project 
when  he  entered  the  St.  Anthony  Hotel 
in  the  manner  already  described  and 
acquainted  his  friends  with  Ms  good 
fortune. 

But  the  Dolly  Dillenbeck  who  proudly 
marshaled  his  friends  in  front  of  the  bar 
that  bright  winter's  afternoon  was  not  a 
circumstance  in  point  of  exultation  and 
self-complacency  to  the  gilded  youth  of 

172 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

similar  facial  aspect,  and  wearing  the 
same  fur-lined  overcoat,  who  stood  in  the 
Grand  Central  Depot  one  bleak,  windy 
morning,  ushering  his  friends  into  the 
private  car  which  was  to  bear  them  to 
Albany.  Mr.  Freelance  was  with  him, 
for  he  too  had  invited  some  citizens  of 
the  sort  likely  to  lend  falat  to  any  cere- 
monial; and  as  he  ran  his  eye  over  the 
two  lists  of  expected  guests  he  nodded  his 
approval  frequently  and  with  emphasis. 

"General  Whiffletree  is  just  the  man 
for  such  a  trip  as  this.  I  hope  he  '11  wear 
that  military-looking  cape-coat  of  his. 
He  '11  make  a  great  impression  plowing 
round  the  lobby  of  the  Delavan  House 
with  that  on.  You  've  got  Judge  Doo- 
nothing  here,  of  course.  Make  him  wear 
those  gold  eye-glasses  and  talk  loud  in 
the  bar-room.  You  see,  these  people  are 
of  no  earthly  use  to  any  one  except  as  a 
bluff,  and  they  're  all  great  at  that.  I  'd 
rather  have  them  along  than  the  Presi- 
173 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

dent  of  the  United  States  and  his  cabinet, 
because  they  '11  make  more  noise  and  do 
more  talking.  Senator  Hardscrabble  ? 
That 's  the  big  windy  stuff  with  the  long 
chin- whiskers,  is  n't  it?  You  have  n't 
forgotten  old  Rungdown,  I  hope.  He  'd 
better  sit  in  a  box  with  three  or  four  of 
the  most  impressive-looking  of  these  ge- 
nials  and  lead  the  applause.  Dr.  Puffe 
—  he  's  all  right;  just  give  him  all  he 
wants  to  drink  and  he  '11  be  good  for  no 
end  of  paragraphs  in  the  Sunday  papers, 
which  is  just  what  we  bring  him  along 
for.  I  must  see  to  it,  by  the  way,  that 
they  all  have  canes  or  umbrellas." 

"  What  for  1 "  asked  Dolly,  innocently. 

"  What  for !  "  rejoined  Mr.  Freelance. 
"  Why,  to  applaud  with,  of  course.  I  'm 
going  to  have  them  scattered  all  over  the 
house,  with  instructions  to  keep  their  eyes 
on  old  Rungdown,  and  when  he  starts 
the  applause  they  '11  all  chime  in ;  then 
the  aborigines  will  be  sure  to  follow  suit. 
174 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

There  's  nothing  like  an  occasional  spon- 
taneous burst  of  enthusiasm  to  make  a 
first  night  go  off  well.  Good  gracious ! 
you  have  n't  gone  and  asked  that  infernal 
old  ham,  Skye  Borders,  have  you  ? " 

"  Why,  certainly  I  did,"  responded  Dol- 
ly, who  was  growing  a  little  restive  under 
Mr.  Freelancers  frank  comments  on  his 
closest  friends.  "  And  why  should  n't  I  ? 
Is  n't  he  well  known  both  as  an  actor 
and  a  dramatist  ?  Why,  he  's  got  a  beau- 
tiful play  already  written  that  he  '11 
let  us  have  in  case  this  one  is  a  failure. 
Palmer  wants  it  the  worst  way ;  and  Daly 
wrote  him  only  yesterday,  begging  him 
to  come  around  and  read  it  to  him ;  and 
yet  he  won't  go  near  them,  just  because  he 
promised  to  let  me  have  the  first  chance 
to  produce  it.  Besides  that,  I  've  no  doubt 
he  7d  consent  to  play  a  part  in  the  piece 
himself,  and  he  has  the  reputation  of  be- 
ing one  of  the  very  best  character-actors 
in  the  country." 

175 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Mr.  Freelance  patiently  waited,  with  a 
look  of  pity  on  his  face,  until  his  patron 
had  finished,  and  then  said,  "Yes,  he  's 
had  that  play  for  at  least  eleven  years, 
and  he  gives  it  a  new  name  every  six 
months.  He 's  read  it  to  me  twice  already. 
Why  does  n't  he  take  it  to  Daly  ?  It  will 
be  quite  a  treat  for  him  to  hear  an  author 
read  a  play.  So  if  this  piece  of  ours  is  a 
failure  he  '11  let  us  have  his,  will  he  ?  Well, 
do  you  imagine  that  he  's  going  to  exert 
himself  to  boom  this  play  when  he  's  got 
one  of  his  own  to  dispose  of?  Is  he  go- 
ing to  applaud  our  actors  if  he  's  dying 
to  get  an  engagement  himself  ?  My  dear 
boy,  never  bring  a  dramatist  into  a  house 
on  a  first  night.  There 's  not  one  of  those 
fellows  who  has  n't  a  play,  and  sometimes 
two,  in  his  coat-tail  pocket,  ready  to  flash 
at  you  in  case  your  own  piece  is  a  frost. 
And  this  man  Borders  is  the  worst  of  the 
lot,  because,  in  addition  to  the  crime  of 
writing  plays,  he  was  once  an  actor — not 
176 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

much  of  an  actor,  but  just  enough  to  give 
him  the  right  to  sneer  at  all  other  actors. 
And,  moreover,  he  is  a  morose,  disap- 
pointed man,  who  was  cut  out  for  a  gro- 
cery clerk,  but  got  stage-struck  at  an  early 
age,  and  has  been  ruined  by  it.  There  's 
not  an  artistic  calling  you  can  name  that 
is  n't  overrun  with  such  men  as  that,  and 
the  worst  of  it  is  that  they  never  seem  to 
understand  that  they  fail  because  of  their 
own  utter  incapacity,  and  not  because  the 
world  is  against  them.  Well,  I  '11  have  a 
talk  with  this  fellow  going  up  on  the  train. 
I  guess  I  can  fix  him  so  that  at  least  he 
won't  do  us  any  harm." 

"  Let  me  take  a  look  at  your  list,"  said 
Dolly,  suddenly.  "  Who 's  that  man,  Peter 
Proudfit  ?  What  did  you  ask  him  for  ? " 

"Because  he  wears  a  broadcloth  suit 
and  has  long  white  chin- whiskers.  He  '11 
make  as  good  a  showing  as  General 
Whiffl etree,  although  he  has  n't  a  military 
title.  Then  there  's  little  Habenichts— 
12  177 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

he  '11  register  himself  Baron  von  Habe- 
nichts;  and  there  's  Major  Rafferty — I 
asked  him  because  he 's  an  Irishman ;  and 
so  it  goes.  There 's  not  a  man  there  that 
won't  be  of  some  use  to  us.  They  're 
just  the  right  sort ;  but  don't  lend  one  of 
them  a  dollar  or  you  '11  never  see  it  again. 
There  comes  the  General,  and  two  or  three 
more  genials  after  him." 

As  the  train  steamed  out  of  the  depot 
our  hero,  always  mindful  of  the  great  role 
he  had  chosen  to  play  through  life,  sum- 
moned one  of  the  colored  attendants  of 
the  special  car,  and  bade  him  open  half  a 
dozen  quarts  without  delay ;  and  five  min- 
utes later  his  guests  were  quaffing  his 
wine  and  sounding  the  praises  of  the  per- 
fect gentleman  and  nature's  nobleman 
whose  privilege  it  was  to  be  their  host, 
for  all  the  world  as  if  they  were  seated 
about  a  table  in  the  St.  Anthony  House. 
The  trip  to  Albany  was  one  prolonged 
carnival  of  wine-opening,  varied  with  an 
178 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

occasional  distribution  of  twenty-five-cent 
cigars;  and  by  the  time  the  train  had 
reached  its  destination  every  member  of 
the  company  not  only  admitted,  but  de- 
clared with  vociferous  ostentation,  that  the 
whole  world  did  not  contain  a  more  pol- 
ished, scholarly,  whole-souled,  and  large- 
hearted  gentleman  than  T.  Adolphus 
Dillenbeck,  now  known  to  that  contem- 
poraneous Fame  which  gilds  a  few  of  the 
brows  between  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel 
and  the  Casino  as  "  wine-opening  Dolly, 
the  Pride  of  Upper  Broadway." 

As  the  train  crossed  the  Hudson  from 
East  Albany,  Dolly,  seated  in  pensive 
mood  beside  the  car-window,  which  the 
colored  porter  had  considerately  opened, 
saw  the  great  white  shining  dome  of  the 
capitol  before  him,  and  in  his  fevered  fancy 
pictured  himself  a  prince  entering  his 
own  realm  in  splendid  triumph,  there  to 
be  anointed  with  the  divine  oil.  It  was 
scarcely  three  years  since  he  first  came 
179 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

on  the  turf,  and  here  he  was,  the  ac- 
knowledged prince  of  wine-openers,  riding 
in  a  private  car  at  the  head  of  as  brave 
a  company  of  genials — courtiers  they 
would  have  been  termed  in  the  olden 
time — as  ever  followed  in  a  monarch's 
train.  Moreover,  was  he  not  already 
crowned  with  that  bright  diadem  which 
marks  the  supreme  development  of  the 
wine-opener — the  diadem  which  decks 
no  brow  save  that  of  him  who  "  puts  up  " 
for  an  actress  ? 

The  train  rolled  slowly  into  the  Albany 
depot,  and  Dolly  reflected  with  just  pride 
that  he  had  opened  four  cases  of  cham- 
pagne since  they  left  New  York. 

They  all  trooped  across  the  street  to  the 
hotel, —  Dolly  was  sorry  it  was  not  half  a 
mile  away,  so  that  they  could  have  driven 
there  in  carriages, — and  when  Mr.  Free- 
lance had  registered  the  names  of  the 
party,  titles  and  all,  there  was  no  gain- 
saying the  fact  that  the  list  was  one  cal- 

180 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

culated  to  make  a  profound  impression  on 
any  one  who  saw  it. 

Unlike  the  others,  Billy  Freelance  had 
not  been  idle  on  the  way  up  from  the  city. 
He  had  arranged  with  Mr.  Rungdown  to 
take  charge  of  the  claque,  and  had  given 
him  a  list  of  cues  for  laughter  and  ap- 
plause. Besides  that,  he  had  taken  Mr. 
Borders  aside — just  as  he  was  beginning 
to  croak  ominously  about  failure  —  and 
impressed  upon  him  the  fact  that  if  the 
play  were  to  fail  that  night  Mr.  Dillen- 
beck  would  be  frightened  out  of  the 
business,  and  refuse  to  advance  another 
cent  j  while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  it  were 
to  prove  a  tremendous  success,  he  would 
feel  encouraged  to  go  ahead  and  branch 
out.  "  I  'm  not  satisfied  with  the  play 
we  've  got  now,  I  can  tell  you  that,"  Mr. 
Freelance  had  observed,  with  refreshing 
frankness,  "  and  if  we  make  any  sort  of  a 
success  with  it  I  shall  insist  upon  getting 
another  one ;  but  it 's  no  easy  matter  to 

12*  181 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

get  a  good  piece,  especially  when  you  're 
dealing  with  a  man  as  suspicious  as  Mr. 
Dillenbeck.  There  's  only  one  way  to 
stand  in  with  him,  and  that  is  to  manifest 
the  greatest  enthusiasm  for  every  scheme 
he  gets  up,  and  pretend  you  think  his 
play  and  his  star  and  the  theater  and  the 
company,  and  everything  else  connected 
with  it,  are  the  very  best  in  the  market. 
If  a  man  makes  any  sort  of  criticism, — 
and  there  are  men  here  right  in  this  car 
who  would  n't  hesitate  to  repeat  it  to  him 
with  additions  of  their  own, — then  he 
gets  suspicious  right  away,  and  says  to 
himself, '  That  man  is  jealous,'  whereas  he 
might  be  the  truest  and  most  disinterested 
friend  he  had  in  the  world." 

From  that  moment  the  company  could 
show  no  finer  specimen  of  open-hearted 
geniality  and  enthusiasm  than  the  usually 
saturnine  and  vindictive  playwright,  Mr. 
Skye  Borders. 

At  precisely  eight  o'clock  that  evening 

182 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Maude  Wheatleigh,  dressed  for  the  first 
act,  stood  on  the  stage  of  the  theater  look- 
ing through  the  peep-hole  in  the  curtain, 
and  listening  to  Billy  Freelancers  descrip- 
tion of  the  journey  from  New  York. 

"  Why  in  the  world  does  that  silly  fel- 
low surround  himself  with  such  people  ?  " 
demanded  Maude,  suddenly,  turning  her 
face  from  the  peep-hole  and  addressing 
the  business  manager.  "  He  brought  that 
pompous  old  Whiffletree  up  to  see  me 
some  time  ago,  and  of  course  I  had  to  be 
polite  to  him ;  but  of  all  stupid,  conceited, 
whisky-drinking  bores,  he  is  about  the 
worst  I  Ve  ever  met.  Has  n't  Mr.  Dillen- 
beck  any  nice  friends  of  his  own  age,  or 
any  age,  for  that  matter,  that  he  must 
always  be  running  around  with  those 
wearisome  old  codgers  who  make  him 
buy  wine  for  them  and,  I  ?ve  no  doubt, 
get  lots  of  money  out  of  him?" 

"  My  dear,"  replied  the  talented  facto- 
tum of  the  firm  of  Hustle  &  Hardup,  "  that 
183 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

young  man's  strongest  passion  is  his  van- 
ity; and  so  long  as  those  senators  and 
judges  and  generals  and  majors  continue 
to  feed  it,  just  so  long  will  he  lend  them 
money  and  pay  for  whatever  they  want  to 
eat  and  drink.  That  crowd  has  cost  him 
thousands  and  thousands  of  dollars  al- 
ready, and  I  rather  think  he  '11  get  tired 
of  the  game  before  they  do.  I  suppose 
you  know  why  he  went  into  this  theatrical 
venture  ? " 

"I  suppose,"  replied  the  girl,  steadily, 
but  with  a  slight  color  creeping  out  be- 
yond the  limit  of  the  rouge  and  grease- 
paint that  stained  her  cheeks — "I  sup- 
pose it  was  in  order  to  have  those  bar- 
room loafers  nudge  him  in  the  ribs,  and 
grin  and  wink  and  crack  their  clumsy 
jokes  about  the  '  little  actress  he  's  back- 
ing.' Oh  yes,  I  know  well  enough  the 
sort  of  figure  he  '11  cut  in  the  St.  Anthony 
House,  and  I  hope  his  vanity  will  be  grat- 
ified, because  I  can  tell  you  he  won't  get 
184 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

anything  else  out  of  it.  I  suppose  I  ought 
to  be  grateful  because  he  's  given  me  a 
chance  I  would  n't  have  had  otherwise, 
and  so  I  am,  for  that  matter;  but  my 
gratitude  does  n't  blind  me  to  his  real 
motives.  I  know  something  about  the 
world  and  the  men  in  it.  Mr.  Freelance, 
even  if  I  have  been  only  a  short  time 
'on  the  turf/  as  you  call  it." 

She  turned  away  abruptly  as  she  fin- 
ished speaking,  and  applied  her  eye  once 
more  to  the  hole  in  the  curtain. 

"You  know  that  scene  you  have  with 
Tommy  toward  the  close  of  the  third  act  ? " 
remarked  Mr.  Freelance,  after  a  moment's 


"  I  ought  to ;  I  've  rehearsed  it  often 
enough,"  she  answered  shortly,  without 
turning  her  face. 

"Well,"  continued  Billy,  "you  want  to 
read  those  lines  exactly  as  you  've  been 
talking  to  me  just  now." 

"There  they  come!"  she  exclaimed, 
185 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

making  no  sign  that  she  had  heard  him ; 
"there  comes  that  big  fat  Judge  Doo- 
nothing — I  can  tell  him  from  your  de- 
scription ;  and  there  's  a  real  nice-looking 
old  gentleman  with  a  long  white  beard  —  " 

"  I  brought  him  along  just  on  account 
of  that  white  beard,"  remarked  Billy, 
dryly. 

"  And  there  's  that  tiresome  old  Rung- 
down  !  I  suppose  if  I  ever  make  a  suc- 
cess he  '11  go  around  telling  everybody 
that  he  taught  me  all  I  ever  knew  about 
acting.  Well,  I  'm  happy  to  say — and 
it  's  thanks  to  you,  my  dear  boy — that 
some  of  the  things  he  took  so  much  trou- 
ble to  teach  me  about  the  '  histrionic  art/ 
as  he  calls  it,  I  don't  know  now,  because 
I  've  taken  particular  pains  to  forget 
them.  But  what  on  earth  did  you  bring 
him  up  here  for,  Billy  ?  " 

"  What  for !  Why,  he 's  one  of  the  dis- 
tinguished guests,  and  a  very  important 
one,  too,  because  he  's  going  to  lead  the 

186 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

applause.  He  'a  got  his  list  of  cues  the 
same  as  the  leader  of  the  orchestra  has, 
and  when  he  applauds,  Judge  Doonothing, 
old  man  Whiffletree,  and  all  the  rest  of 
them  will  follow  suit.  Each  one  is  pro- 
vided with  a  cane  or  an  umbrella.  Then 
to-morrow  you  '11  have  the  pleasure  of 
reading  about  the  spontaneous  outbursts 
of  enthusiasm  which  showed  plainly  what 
a  deep  impression  the  young  actress  had 
made  on  the  refined  and  critical  Albany 
public.  But  you  '11  notice  this  evening 
that  all  the  spontaneous  enthusiasm  will 
start  right  from  that  right-hand  upper 
box." 

To  his  complete  surprise  Maude  Wheat- 
leigh  turned  upon  him  with  cheeks  that 
were  now  fairly  ablaze,  and  exclaimed, 
"Do  you  people  who  traffic  in  art  and 
genius  ever  think  how  you  degrade  every- 
thing that  you  touch?  I  don't  believe 
you  do,  or  you  would  have  been  ashamed 
to  say  to  me  what  you  did  just  now.  For 

187 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

months  I  have  been  devoting  every  atom 
of  talent  I  possess  to  this  part.  I  Ve  lit- 
erally lived  in  it,  and  I  shall  cry  to-night 
when  I  come  to  one  or  two  scenes  in  it. 
I  don't  know  whether  I  '11  be  able  to  read 
all  the  lines,  as  you  say.  All  I  care  for  is 
to  make  the  people  laugh  and  cry  with 
me.  That  's  what  I  've  been  living  for 
and  working  for  all  this  time,  and  now 
you  come  to  me  just  before  the  curtain 
goes  up,  and  tell  me  you  've  brought  up 
a  carload  of  bar-room  loafers  from  New 
York, — men  who  never  knew  an  honest 
emotion  in  their  lives, — and  they  are  to 
let  the  people  know  when  to  applaud  and 
when  to  weep.  I  tell  you  it 's  outrageous, 
and  especially  from  you." 

She  paused  a  moment  after  this  out- 
burst, and  then  went  on  with  forced 
calmness :  "  Have  n't  you  told  me  from 
the  very  first  that  you  had  faith  in  me? 
How  much  faith  have  you  in  my  ability 
when  you  bring  a  horde  of  men  on  from 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

New  York,  and  give  them  canes  and  um- 
brellas, that  they  may  teach  the  people 
when  to  applaud  and  when  to  cry  ?  Never 
mind,  though ;  there  will  be  some  applause 
to-night  that  will  not  begin  in  that  right- 
hand  upper  box.  It  will  come  from  the 
left  side." 

She  laid  her  hand  over  her  heart  as  she 
said  this,  and  it  seemed  to  him  that  her 
voice  broke  a  little  at  the  last.  She  was 
looking  through  the  peep-hole  again  now, 
and  before  he  could  frame  a  reply  to  her 
indignant  words  she  said,  "  There  's  Mr. 
Dillenbeck,  and  I  do  believe  he  's  coming 
back  on  the  stage.  I  told  him  I  could  n't 
bear  the  sight  of  you,  and  only  tolerated 
you  for  business  reasons." 

"  Then  you  'd  better  go  into  your  dress- 
ing-room," replied  Billy ;  "  anyway,  it  's 
pretty  near  time  to  ring  up." 


189 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THANKS  to  Mr.  Freelance's  success  in 
awakening  interest  in  his  star  by  means 
of  crafty  newspaper  paragraphs  and  a 
liberal  distribution  of  photographs,  not 
to  mention  a  judicious  scattering  of  free 
tickets,  the  theater  was  filled  with  what 
the  newspapers  described  as  a  "  large  and 
thoroughly  representative  audience"  on 
the  occasion  of  Miss  Wheatleigh's  debut. 
In  the  upper  right-hand  box  sat  the  most 
impressive-looking  of  Dolly's  invited 
guests,  under  the  guidance  of  Mr.  Rung- 
down,  who  also  had  command  of  the 
forces  on  the  floor  below  and  those  in 
the  balcony  directly  opposite.  General 
Whiffletree,  Senator  Hardscrabble,  Judge 
Doonothing,  and  the  elderly  gentleman 
190 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

with  the  long  white  beard  were  the  other 
occupants  of  the  box.  Mr.  Hustle  sat 
with  a  detachment  of  genials  in  orchestra 
chairs,  while  Dolly  roamed  in  and  out  of 
the  theater,  and  from  the  stage  to  the 
auditorium,  too  much  excited  to  sit  still 
in  one  place  a  single  minute. 

The  first  act  went  well — at  least  that  is 
what  everybody  told  our  hero  when  they 
followed  him  from  the  theater  to  a  near^ 
by  place  of  refreshment,  in  order  that 
they  might  once  more  drink  to  the  success 
of  the  debutante ;  but  to  Mr.  Freelance  it 
seemed  that  Maude  was  not  quite  at  her 
best,  and  he  took  pains  to  go  back  to  her 
dressing-room  and  ask  her,  in  penitent 
tones,  if  there  were  anything  he  could  do 
for  her,  and  whether  she  had  forgiven 
him  for  trying  in  his  blind,  brutal  way  to 
make  her  debut  an  exciting  and  note- 
worthy success. 

"Yes,  Billy,"  said  the  girl,  turning  to 
him  with  a  powder-puff  in  her  hand, 
191 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"you  're  forgiven;  but  I  do  wish  you 
had  n't  told  me  about  those  old  guys  in 
the  box.  I  could  n't  help  looking  there 
every  minute  or  two  to  see  whether  Rung- 
down  was  getting  ready  to  applaud  or  not, 
and  once  I  saw  him  pull  out  his  handker- 
chief and  draw  it  across  his  eyes  like  this, 
and  then  the  rest  of  them  followed  suit 
like  a  company  of  soldiers.  But,  Billy, 
you  must  lend  that  third  man  in  the  row 
one  of  your  white  handkerchiefs,  because 
he  's  got  nothing  but  a  red  bandana,  and 
it  does  n't  match  the  box  curtains.  How- 
ever, perhaps  there  '11  be  some  applause 
in  the  next  act  that  won't  start  from  that 
box."  And  something  in  the  tone  of  her 
voice,  in  her  firm,  resolute  mouth,  con- 
vinced him  that  the  debutante  was  very 
much  in  earnest  that  night. 

The  play  was  one  of  the  class,  common 

enough  nowadays,  dealing  with  the  period 

of  our  Civil  War;  and  Maude  was  the 

young  girl  of  humble  circumstances  whose 

192 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

lover,  having  quarreled  with  his  father  on 
her  account,  had  gone  to  the  front,  after 
a  brief  pause  to  enable  him  to  put  on  his 
uniform  in  order  that  he  might  say  good- 
by  to  his  sweetheart,  while  the  regimental 
band  played  "  The  girl  I  left  behind  me  n 
and  the  glittering  bayonets  of  the  depart- 
ing troops  could  be  seen  through  the  front 
windows  of  the  drawing-room,  in  which  all 
the  characters  in  the  play  were  assembled. 
All  this  and  a  great  deal  more  happened 
in  the  first  act ;  and  in  the  second,  which 
was  universally  admitted  by  the  visiting 
genials  to  be  superior  to  the  first,  the  ex- 
citing scenes  of  army  life,  in  camp  and  in 
the  rifle-pits  under  the  guns  of  a  gloomy- 
looking  fortress,  were  depicted,  with  a 
moderate  degree  of  accuracy  and  a  liberal 
use  of  red  fire  and  smoke.  In  this  act 
Maude  appeared  as  a  hospital  nurse  in 
the  most  becoming  of  costumes,  ostensi- 
bly engaged  in  ministering  to  the  sick 
and  wounded,  but  in  reality  looking  for 

13  193 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

her  lover,  whom  she  found  at  last  ill  with 
a  fever  and  burning  with  a  desire  to  go  to 
the  front  and  distinguish  himself. 

The  scene  of  the  third  act  was  laid  in 
New  York,  where  the  lover's  father  had 
been  engaged  in  speculations  on  the  gold 
market  and  had  amassed  a  vast  fortune, 
which  had  served  to  make  him  more 
purse-proud  than  ever,  and  to  strengthen 
his  resolve  to  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  ungrateful  son  who  had  not  only  re- 
fused to  give  up  the  girl  of  his  choice 
but  had  also  insisted  upon  going  out  to 
fight  his  country's  battles  when  he  might 
have  stayed  at  home  and  made  a  fortune 
in  Wall  Street. 

During  this  act  the  heroine  arrived 
from  the  field,  determined  to  effect  a 
reconciliation  between  the  father  and  son 
at  all  costs,  even  if  it  were  necessary  for 
her  to  give  up  all  claim  on  her  lover  and 
release  him  from  his  vows.  She  entered 
the  rich  speculator's  drawing-room  just  as 
194 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

he  was  in  the  midst  of  a  discussion  with 
his  wife  in  regard  to  the  conduct  of  their 
son,  whom  he  denounced  as  a  worthless, 
ungrateful  dog  who  deserved  to  be  a  pau- 
per for  the  rest  of  his  days  for  neglecting 
opportunities  to  get  rich  such  as  present 
themselves  but  once  in  a  generation,  And 
then  he  turned  to  the  state  of  the  gold 
market,  crying  exultantly,  "All  I  want 
to  see  is  another  big  battle  that  will  come 
pretty  near  wiping  out  our  army,  and 
then  gold  '11  go  kiting  up  into  the  hun- 
dreds and  I  '11  be  able  to  retire." 

Then  his  wife,  horror-stricken  at  his 
words,  reminded  him  of  their  boy  who 
was  somewhere  at  the  front  fighting  for 
the  old  flag;  and  just  at  this  moment 
Maude  entered,  threw  aside  her  water- 
proof cloak,  and  besought  the  father  to 
write  a  letter  of  forgiveness  to  his  son 
imploring  him  in  his  mother's  name  to 
return  at  once  to  New  York.  She  told 
him  how  bitterly  the  boy  had  felt  his 
195 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

parents'  displeasure,  and  how  he  was  now 
sick  with  the  fever  but  still  keeping  in 
the  ranks  in  order  that  he  might  take 
part  in  the  very  next  battle.  There  had 
been  some  cases  of  shamming  in  his  regi- 
ment, and  he  would  run  no  risk  of  being 
classed  with  the  cowards. 

And  while  she  was  pleading  passion- 
ately with  the  hard,  money-getting  father, 
hoarse  cries  arose  in  the  street  outside, 
and  grew  louder  and  louder  every  mo- 
ment. The  mother  knew  at  once  the 
meaning  of  those  cries,  as  what  mother 
did  not  in  those  days?  The  newsboys 
were  shouting  extras,  there  had  been  an- 
other battle,  and  her  boy  was  at  the 
front ! 

"  Another  battle ! "  cried  the  father,  ex- 
citedly. "  Then  that  means  another  vic- 
tory for  Johnny  Reb,  and  to-morrow  gold 
will  touch  the  two-hundred  mark." 

"  Our  boy  at  the  front,  and  you  stand 
there  talking  about  the  gold  market!" 
196 


;  I  DON'T  CARE  A  SNAP  OF  MY  FINGER  FOR  MR.  HUSTLE." 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

cried  his  wife,  reproachfully.  And  then 
the  newsboys  came  thundering  down  the 
street,  the  door  was  thrown  open,  and, 
followed  by  a  gust  of  snowflakes,  a  boy 
rushed  in  with  his  roll  of  papers  under 
his  arm,  threw  one  down  on  the  table, 
and  exclaimed,  "Big  fight  at  Lookout 
Mountain ! " 

"Lookout  Mountain! — that  's  where 
our  boy  is ! "  cried  the  mother,  sinking 
back  into  her  chair,  her  face  white  with 
anxiety. 

"  Yes,  he  's  there,  and  I  know  that  he 
was  in  that  fight,"  said  Maude,  in  steady 
accents,  advancing  to  the  father,  who 
seemed  to  suddenly  realize  that  his  only 
son  was  in  danger.  "  Perhaps,"  continued 
the  young  girl,  in  tones  that  made  their 
way  to  every  heart  in  the  audience — "  per- 
haps he  is  lying  dead  before  the  big  guns 
under  the  shadow  of  the  fort  j  but  read 
what  the  paper  says." 

The  silence  in  the  house  was  broken 
is*  197 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

only  by  the  crisp  rustling  of  the  paper  as 
the  old  man  unfolded  it  and  tried  to  read. 
Suddenly  he  let  it  fall  to  the  floor  and 
sank  into  a  chair.  "  There  it  is,"  he  said 
— "there  's  his  name  in  the  list;  but  I 
can't  read  any  more.  You  read  it,  girl, 
if  you  can." 

"  I  can  read  it,"  said  Maude,  calmly,  as 
she  advanced  to  the  footlights  with  the 
paper  in  her  hand. 

There  was  a  moment  of  what  is  called 
"  dramatic  suspense  "  as  she  ran  her  eye 
down  the  column ;  then  she  turned  to  the 
father  and  mother,  and  read,  in  clear,  ring- 
ing tones,  in  which  there  was  a  distinct 
note  of  triumph :  " '  Thomas  Wheelwright 
promoted  for  bravery  on  the  field  of  bat- 
tle.' There,  what  do  you  think  of  the 
gold  market  now?" 

It  may  have  been  because  of  the  mem- 
ories which  the  scene  awakened  in  the 
hearts  of  those  who  were  alive  at  the  time 
when  extras  were  cried  at  midnight  in 
198 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  streets,  or  it  may  have  been  because 
of  the  rare,  sympathetic  quality  in  the 
young  girl's  voice ;  but  certain  it  is  that 
she  stirred  her  hearers  to  their  very  hearts' 
cores,  and  the  curtain  went  down  on  such 
a  storm  of  applause  as  it  falls  to  the  lot 
of  but  few  artists  to  listen  to.  Even  the 
distinguished  visitors  in  the  upper  right- 
hand  box  were  visibly  affected,  and  forgot 
to  watch  their  chief  of  claque.  General 
Whiffletree  sniffed  audibly,  and  wiped  his 
eyes  with  his  large  and  impressive  ban- 
dana handkerchief.  The  scene  brought 
back  its  memories  to  him,  for,  to  tell  the 
truth,  he  had  never  been  south  of  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line  until  he  joined  the  horde 
of  invading  carpet-baggers  after  the  war ; 
and  the  midnight  cries  of  newsboys  sell- 
ing extras  had  been  a  familiar  sound  in 
his  ears  during  those  stirring  times  when 
they  were  of  such  frequent  occurrence. 

"  I  tell  you,  gentlemen,"  he  said,  with 
the  air  of  one  who  is  in  the  habit  of  set- 
199 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

tling  vexed  questions  with  a  single  word, 
"  that  girl  is  great ;  and  my  young  friend, 
Dolly  Dillenbeck,  may  thank  his  stars 
that  he  came  to  me  for  advice  when  he 
first  thought  of  putting  her  on  the  stage." 
And  the  General  stalked  off  in  search  of 
his  young  patron,  with  the  rest  of  the 
genials  at  his  heels. 

Billy  Freelance  was  the  first  to  con- 
gratulate the  young  star  on  her  splendid 
triumph,  for  it  had  proved  a  far  greater 
triumph  than  any  one  had  anticipated. 
He  found  her  seated  in  her  dressing-room, 
panting,  with  flushed  cheeks  and  sparkling 
eyes.  She  looked  up  at  him  as  he  entered, 
and  smiled  triumphantly,  but,  it  seemed  to 
him,  with  a  wonderful  sweetness.  "  Well," 
she  said,  "  did  that  applause  begin  in  the 
right-hand  upper  box  ?  Hark !  they  're  be- 
ginning again  ;  yes,  that 's  another  curtain- 
call,  and  it  7s  from  the  people,  too.  Your 
distinguished  guests  from  New  York  are 
not  making  all  that  noise.  They  're  prob- 
200 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

ably  all  of  them  in  a  corner  bar-room  by 
this  time,  guzzling  whisky  as  if  that  were 
the  best  thing  life  could  offer  them." 

"Another  call,  Miss  Wheatleigh !  "  ex- 
claimed the  stage-manager,  putting  his 
head  in  at  the  door.  And  the  young  girl 
tripped  out  of  the  room,  stood  for  a  mo- 
ment in  the  entrance  while  the  curtain 
was  drawn  aside,  and  then  went  out  be- 
fore the  footlights  and  bowed  gently, 
with  a  deprecatory  look  and  gesture,  to 
the  most  enthusiastic  demonstration  ever 
known  in  the  theater.  She  smiled  again 
as  she  passed  the  business  manager 
on  her  way  back  to  her  dressing-room. 
"That  upper  right-hand  box  is  empty," 
she  said,  quietly.  "You  ought  to  have 
tied  your  distinguished  guests  to  their 
chairs,  so  that  they  would  n't  quit  work 
before  the  whistle  blew."  And  without 
waiting  for  him  to  reply  to  her  sarcasm, 
she  went  into  her  dressing-room  to  get 
ready  for  the  last  act. 
201 


CHAPTER  XIV 

IN  a  large  room  which  formed  an  exact 
cube,  and  was  furnished  exactly  like  forty 
thousand  other  rooms  of  similar  size  and 
shape  which  are  devoted  to  the  use  of 
travelers  throughout  the  United  States, 
Maude  Wheatleigh  sat  up  in  bed  the 
morning  after  her  debut,  and  for  the  first 
time  in  her  life  drank  from  the  cup  of 
fame  until  she  was  satiated.  In  other 
words,  she  read  the  criticisms  of  her  per- 
formance in  the  morning  papers  until 
puffery  began  to  pall  upon  her.  Then 
she  rang  for  her  breakfast. 

In  the  golden  centuries  of  which  the 
poets  have  sung, — and  sung,  too,  far  more 
tunefully  than  the  poets  of  to-day  are 

202 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

singing, — the  laurel  wreath  was  the  ac- 
cepted symbol  of  fame,  and  was  used  to 
deck  the  brow  of  poet,  warrior,  king,  or 
statesman.  It  is  even  used  at  the  pres- 
ent day  for  that  purpose  by  sculptors  and 
painters,  although  the  actual  wreath  is 
no  longer  employed. 

Now  if  I  were  an  artist  with  a  turn  for 
modern  realism  I  would  portray  my  hero, 
not  in  an  impossible  cloak,  not  standing 
beside  a  marble  column  with  a  roll  of 
manuscript  in  his  hand,  not  decked  with 
a  crown  of  laurel — I  would  represent 
him  in  a  modern  hotel  room,  sitting  up 
in  bed  and  reading  about  himself  in  the 
morning  newspapers,  and  looking  criti- 
cally at  double-column  portraits  of  himself 
— process  reproductions  of  photographs 
given  out  by  his  business  manager  or  ad- 
vertising agent  the  day  before.  And  I 
would  endeavor  to  catch  the  expression 
of  his  face  at  that  supreme  moment  when 
his  greedy  eye  devours  the  half-column  of 
203 


DOLLT  DILLENBECK 

eulogy  which  makes  him  feel  that  there 
are,  after  all,  some  people  in  the  world 
who  have  the  right  appreciation  of  true 
greatness. 

Therefore  I  have  so  contrived  this  story 
as  to  afford  my  readers  a  brief  glance  at 
my  heroine  at  one  of  the  most  interesting 
and  picturesque  points  of  her  career,  and 
I  hope  that  no  one  will  complain  because 
the  glimpse  thus  offered  is  taken  in  the 
privacy  of  her  own  room,  where  she  is 
drinking  in  those  deep  drafts  of  news- 
paper flattery  which  play  such  an  impor- 
tant part  in  a  theatrical  career. 

Of  course  Maude  had  been  puffed  a 
great  many  times,  and  sometimes  at  great 
length  and  effectively,  since  her  first  ap- 
pearance on  the  stage;  but  now,  as  she 
sat  with  the  papers  before  her  and  her 
mind  and  heart  filled  with  memories  of 
last  night's  triumph,  it  seemed  to  her  that 
she  had  leaped  at  one  bound  into  the  pub- 
lic eye,  and  that  her  path  thereafter  would 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

be  an  easy  one  beneath  her  feet.  One 
critic  described  her  as  "  a  combination  of 
Adelaide  Neilson  and  Sarah  Bernhardt " ; 
a  second  called  her  "  the  American  Dnse  " ; 
and  a  third  observed  that  no  managers 
had  ever  paid  a  higher  compliment  to  the 
critical  and  refined  Albany  public  than 
Messrs.  Hustle  &  Hardup  had  in  choos- 
ing that  city  as  a  suitable  place  for  Miss 
Wheatleigh's  debut. 

"  Well,  I  suppose  I  am  famous  at  last," 
said  Maude  to  herself  as  she  rested  her 
chin  on  her  hands  and  gazed  thoughtfully 
out  of  the  window  at  the  big  patch  of  blue 
sky  which  she  could  see  above  the  roof 
of  the  house  over  the  way.  And  then  her 
thoughts  went  back,  as  they  did  at  every 
moment  of  triumph  or  adversity  in  her 
life,  to  the  old  gray  farm-house  in  Mill- 
bridge,  with  its  brown  path  leading  to  the 
well,  the  kitchen  where  her  mother  was 
at  work,  and  the  dim  forest  where  she 
used  to  wander  with  her  father,  listening 
205 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

to  the  birds  and  watching  the  rabbits 
that  crossed  their  path. 

"  I  owe  a  good  deal  to  poor  papa,"  she 
said  to  herself,  "  and  to  mamma  too,"  she 
added  as  an  afterthought ;  "  and  I  suppose 
I  owe  a  good  deal  to  that  old  Mrs.  Dillen- 
beck,  for  if  it  had  n't  been  for  her  terrible 
anxiety  about  that  precious  boy  of  hers 
I  'm  sure  I  never  would  have  even  re- 
membered him.  What  a  lucky  accident 
it  was,  meeting  him  the  very  minute  I 
touched  the  New  York  pavement !  And 
as  for  Billy—" 

But  at  this  moment  the  servant  entered 
with  the  breakfast  tray,  and  the  young 
actress  postponed  her  meditations  until 
some  more  convenient  moment. 

Tidings  of  Maude  Wheatleigh's  extraor- 
dinary success  were  carried  to  New  York 
by  Mr.  Hustle  and  the  band  of  invited 
guests,  whom  nobody  believed,  and  were 
subsequently  confirmed  from  more  reli- 
able sources.  Before  a  week  had  elapsed 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

a  New  York  manager  went  on  to  Syra- 
cuse, where  the  company  was  performing, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  play  sought  out 
Mr.  Freelance  and  proposed  that  he  should 
bring  the  new  star  to  New  York  without 
delay,  and  ended  by  offering  them  very 
advantageous  terms  at  his  own  theater. 
Dolly,  who  had  been  with  the  company 
ever  since  the  auspicious  debut  in  Albany, 
was  for  closing  with  him  at  once,  and 
would  have  done  so  had  it  not  been  for 
his  business  manager,  who  declared  that 
to  go  to  New  York  at  that  time  would  be 
simply  to  court  disaster.  "  You  see  how 
much  this  girl  has  improved  in  the  short 
time  she 's  been  before  the  public,"  he  rea- 
soned ;  "  well,  give  her  a  chance  and  she  '11 
go  on  improving,  so  that  by  next  season 
she  '11  stand  some  show  with  a  Broadway 
audience.  There  '11  be  more  interest  in 
her  then,  too,  because  of  course  I  '11  keep 
her  name  in  the  papers  as  much  as  possi- 
ble, and  people  will  want  to  see  her  then. 
207 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

They  have  n't  heard  of  her  yet,  and  we  'd 
have  to  create  an  interest  while  she  was 
playing.  If  she  were  to  fail  there  this 
spring — and  I  tell  you  plainly  I  don't 
feel  sure  of  her  yet,  or  of  the  play  either 
— it  would  be  very  hard  to  get  time  for 
her  next  fall  or  winter,  and  even  if  she 
did  she  would  n't  be  a  novelty  then.  Let 
us  go  on  as  we  are  for  the  rest  of  this  sea- 
son, playing  the  smaller  cities  and  giving 
her  a  chance  to  study  and  to  practise  her 
art  on  the  yokels." 

But  Dolly  was  too  much  elated  over  his 
star's  success  to  listen  to  the  counsel  of 
his  experienced  and  sagacious  manager, 
and  he  would  have  acceded  to  the  New- 
Yorker's  terms  if  Mr.  Freelance  had  not 
as  a  last  resource  appealed  to  the  actress 
herself  and  convinced  her  of  the  folly  of 
venturing  on  a  metropolitan  engagement 
at  the  fag-end  of  the  season. 

Maude  Wheatleigh's  career  had  been 
so  remarkable,  and  her  success  so  quickly 
208 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

and  easily  achieved,  that  Mr.  Freelance, 
although  usually  anything  but  a  sanguine 
man  where  adolescent  genius  was  con- 
cerned, was  prepared  for  almost  any 
extraordinary  turn  of  affairs ;  but  when 
he  found  that  she  indorsed  his  views  on 
the  question  of  a  New  York  engagement, 
and  declared  that  it  would  be  far  better 
to  wait  six  months  at  least,  he  literally 
fell  back  in  his  chair,  stupefied  by  her 
common  sense. 

"Is  it  possible,"  he  exclaimed,  "that 
this  success  of  yours  has  n't  swelled  your 
head  so  that  you  think  you  're  the  great- 
est actress  on  earth  ?  Well,  you  certainly 
are  a  remarkable  woman.  I  've  had  to  do 
with  lots  of  clever  people,  but  my  experi- 
ence with  them  is  that  they  show  a  certain 
amount  of  talent,  make  a  little  hit  and  get 
some  notices  in  the  papers,  and  then  the 
disease  of  the  swelled  head  attacks  them 
and  they  never  get  any  further.  They 
seem  to  take  more  pleasure  in  poring  over 
i*  209 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

a  scrap-book  of  notices,  and  telling  peo- 
ple how  clever  they  are,  than  in  going 
straight  ahead  and  making  money  and 
fame." 

"Well,  1 've  got  a  swelled  head,  too," 
said  the  girl,  quietly,  "  but  it 's  on  what  I  'm 
going  to  do,  not  what  I  've  done  already 
or  what  I  'm  doing  now.  You  don't  ima- 
gine, do  you,  Billy,  that  I  'm  going  to  be 
satisfied  with  artistic  triumphs  in  Albany 
and  Elmira  ?  No,  indeed,  dear  boy.  When 
we  get  to  New  York  I  '11  do  something 
that  will  make  you  proud  to  think  that 
you  were  the  first  one  to  really  give  me 
a  start  ;  and  so  you  were,  for  if  it  had  n't 
been  for  you  I  would  have  been  playing 
Polly  Lightfoot  to  this  day." 

"  You  forget  our  friend,  Mr.  Dillenbeck, 
when  you  talk  about  my  giving  you  your 
start,"  rejoined  Billy. 

"No,  I  don't,"  said  the  girl,  quickly. 
"I  wish  I  could,  though." 

For  a  few  moments  Mr.  Freelance  re- 

210 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

garded  her  curiously.  His  experience  in 
the  theatrical  profession  had  taught  him 
that  clever  women  of  the  Maude  Wheat- 
leigh  type  did  not  always  confine  their 
acting  to  the  stage,  and  he  knew,  too, 
how  important  it  was  for  her  to  retain 
his  good  will  and  interest  at  this  particu- 
lar point  in  her  career.  At  the  same  time 
he  realized  that,  taking  all  things  into 
consideration,  it  would  be  better  for  them 
both  to  avoid  even  the  appearance  of 
anything  like  mutual  affection.  Luckily 
or  unluckily,  Dillenbeck  was  so  wrapped 
up  in  himself,  so  secure  in  his  faith  in  his 
own  powers  of  attraction,  that  he  never 
troubled  himself  to  find  out  how  Maude 
amused  herself  during  his  absence.  Mr. 
Freelance  did  not  often  burden  his  mind 
with  anxiety  in  regard  to  Maude's  feelings 
toward  him,  but  now  he  was  conscious  of 
a  slight  twinge  of  uneasiness  as  he  asked 
himself  if  she  were  sincere  in  what  she 
had  said  about  Dolly. 

211 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

It  was  Maude  herself  who  broke  the 
silence  and  diverted  the  conversation  into 
another  channel. 

"  There 's  one  thing  I  want  to  do,  though, 
as  soon  as  I  get  back  to  New  York,"  she 
said,  "  and  that  is,  make  some  sort  of  a 
start  in  the  way  of  society.  There  's  no 
reason  in  the  world  why  I  should  n't  begin 
to  hold  my  head  up  a  little,  now  that  I  've 
enough  money  to  enable  me  to  dress  well 
and  live  at  a  good  hotel.  I  read  the  society 
column  in  the  Sunday  papers,  and  there 
are  plenty  of  actresses  whose  names  ap- 
pear there  constantly.  Why,  even  our 
old  friend,  Pearl  Livingstone,  seems  to 
cut  quite  a  figure  in  society  whenever 
she  's  in  New  York,  while  in  Chicago  and 
San  Francisco  and  places  like  that  she  's 
invited  everywhere  and  meets  all  the  most 
fashionable  people.  Don't  you  think  it 
would  be  a  help  to  me,  professionally,  if 
I  were  to  go  out  to  receptions  and  parties 
once  in  a  while  I " 

212 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Mr.  Freelance  did  not  reply  at  once. 

"  Well,  what  do  you  think  of  the  idea  ?  " 
she  continued,  anxiously. 

"  I  don't  know  why  it  is,"  he  said  at  last, 
"  but  the  social  rock  is  one  on  which  many 
an  artist  has  gone  to  pieces.  If  a  woman 
has  been  born  and  brought  up  in  the  sort 
of  society  that  you  refer  to,  and  concern- 
ing whose  doings  we  read  extended  ac- 
counts in  the  daily  and  weekly  news- 
papers, that  fact  will  distinctly  prejudice 
the  public  against  her  when  she  attempts 
to  go  on  the  stage.  It  will  take  years  of 
work,  backed  by  great  natural  ability  on 
her  part,  to  convince  the  public  that  she  is 
worthy  of  even  decent  consideration.  The 
smart  Aleck  newspaper  men  will  make  it 
a  point  to  refer  to  her  as  an  amateur  long 
after  she  has  become  a  thoroughly  ac- 
complished professional;  the  ponderous 
satirists  of  the  press  will  pursue  her  with 
elephantine  tread ;  and  most  of  all  the  pub- 
lic will  always  be  suspicious  of  her.  On 
w*  213 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  other  hand,  if  a  woman  has  never  seen 
the  inside  of  a  decent  drawing-room  in  her 
life,  she  will  have  no  difficulty  in  securing 
a  sort  of  quasi  newspaper  indorsement  to 
whatever  social  pretensions  she  may  set 
up,  no  matter  how  absurd  they  may  be; 
and  I  know  of  no  claims  of  that  sort  that 
are  more  ridiculous  than  those  of  Miss 
Pearl  Livingstone,  whom  I  have  known 
intimately  for  a  number  of  years.  I  'd 
like  to  take  you  to  one  of  those  recep- 
tions of  hers,  just  to  give  you  an  idea  of 
what  society  is  not  like,  even  a  little  bit. 
There  's  nothing  to  prevent  you  from 
going  into  just  as  good  society  as  she 
does,  and  when  we  get  back  to  New  York 
I  '11  introduce  you  myself,  if  you  like ;  but 
I  warn  you — " 

"  I  'd  like  it  very  much  indeed,"  ex- 
claimed Maude,  eagerly.  "  It  may  not  be 
the  best  in  the  town,  but  it 's  something, 
and — and — Billy,  I  want  to  know  some 
nice  domestic  women.  Sometimes  I  feel 
214 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

as  if  I  would  give  anything  to  have  for  a 
friend  some  woman  of  the  sort  that  I  used 
to  know  when  I  lived  up  in  the  country 
and  did  n't  know  what  the  inside  of  a 
theater  was  like.  I  did  n't  care  much  for 
them  then,  but  now  I  know  better ;  and  if 
I  only  had  for  a  friend  some  woman  with 
a  nursery  full  of  young  ones  it  would  be 
more  to  me  than  anything  you  can  think 
of." 

"  Well,  if  you  meet  any  woman  of  that 
sort  at  one  of  Pearl  Livingstone's  soirees 
you  '11  be  fortunate,"  remarked  the  man- 
ager, rising  and  looking  at  his  watch.  "  I 
suppose  I  'd  better  tell  Dillenbeck  that  you 
won't  go  to  New  York."  And  as  he  left 
the  room  he  said  to  himself,  with  a  sigh, 
"  I  suppose  I  '11  upset  my  dish  again,  just 
as  I  always  do  at  the  critical  moment. 
I  Ve  half  a  mind  to  shake  the  whole  con- 
cern and  get  back  to  New  York  out  of 
harm's  way.  It  7s  better  than  staying 
near  her  to  have  my  heart  all  torn  out  by 
215 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  roots,  as  it  was  ten  years  ago."  And 
then  the  girl's  face,  with  its  look  of  grati- 
tude, and  the  moist  blue  eyes  looking  into 
his,  came  up  before  him,  and  he  smiled 
and  buttoned  his  coat  tightly  across  his 
breast,  as  if  to  make  sure  that  his  heart 
did  not  get  away.  "  Anyway,"  he  said  to 
himself,  "if  it  came  to  a  choice  between 
that  wine-opening  ape  with  all  his  money, 
and  me  with  nothing  but  my  brains, 
it  's  just  possible — "  And  he  went  off 
whistling  gaily. 

He  and  Maude  carried  their  point,  how- 
ever, and  Dolly,  unwillingly  enough, 
agreed  to  postpone  the  New  York  en- 
gagement until  the  following  season. 


216 


CHAPTER  XV 

DOLLY  remained  with  the  Wheatleigh 
company  until  the  close  of  the  season,  and 
when  he  finally  returned  to  New  York, 
after  an  absence  of  several  weeks,  he  felt 
that  he  had  grown  immeasurably  older  and 
more  sagacious  by  reason  of  his  travels. 
He  was  a  man  of  business  now,  too,  hold- 
ing a  five  years'  contract  with  Miss  Wheat- 
leigh, and  having  a  half-interest  in  the 
profits  of  her  tour.  This  was  a  matter  of 
no  small  importance  to  him,  for  the  rapid 
pace  which  he  had  kept  up  ever  since  his 
advent  "  on  the  turf "  had  made  terrible 
inroads  on  his  fortune,  although  he  could 
not  for  the  life  of  him  understand  how  it 
was  that  his  money  went  so  fast.  He  said 
as  much  to  his  old  friend,  Joe  Whitcomb, 
217 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

who  had  now  settled  permanently  in  New 
York ;  and  the  latter,  who  was  a  shrewd, 
quick-witted  chap,  had  seen  enongh  dur- 
ing the  afternoon  they  had  spent  together 
on  Broadway  to  show  him  how  recklessly 
the  young  Cro3sus  was  making  his  dollars 

fly. 

"  It  's  your  extravagance,"  said  Joe, 
"buying  wine  for  that  gang  you  travel 
with.  I  '11  bet  you  not  one  of  them  ever 
puts  up  a  drink  when  you  're  in  the  party ; 
and  besides,  it  must  cost  you  a  good  deal 
to  play  faro  and  roulette.  Just  keep  ac- 
count of  your  expenses  for  any  one  day 
you  're  in  town  and  multiply  it  by  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five,  and  you  '11  get  an 
idea  of  where  a  good  part  of  your  money 
goes  to." 

Joe's  advice  happened  to  come  into 
Dolly's  head  as  he  alighted  from  a  cab  at 
the  St.  Anthony  House  on  the  afternoon 
of  his  return  to  New  York,  and  he  deter- 
mined to  follow  it,  for  that  day  at  least. 
218 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

The  news  of  his  arrival  spread  with  mar- 
velous rapidity  through  the  portion  of  the 
town  which  claimed  him  for  its  own.  Gen- 
eral Whiffletree  met  him  with  outstretched 
hands  on  the  very  threshold  of  the  cafe, 
and  the  moisture  in  the  old  warrior's  eyes 
as  he  bade  him  welcome  was  not  a  true 
indication  of  the  condition  of  his  throat. 
Judge  Doonothing,  who  had  suffered  from 
the  general  drought  during  Dolly's  ab- 
sence to  such  a  degree  that  he  had  twice 
been  on  the  point  of  going  out  to  pray  for 
rain,  was  no  less  ardent  in  his  greeting ; 
and  within  half  an  hour  seventeen  warm- 
hearted friends  had  wrung  our  hero's  hand 
and  accepted  his  invitation  to  "  sit  down 
and  join  us." 

The  old  princely  feeling  came  back  to 
Dolly  again  as  he  sat  in  the  midst  of  the 
joyous  company,  listening  to  the  words  of 
flattery  and  endearment  that  were  poured 
into  his  ear  as  freely  and  generously  as 
he  poured  the  sparkling  wine  down  the 
219 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

parched  and  husky  throats.  Again  and 
again  were  the  glasses  all  charged  to  do 
him  honor,  and  again  and  again  did  every 
genial  smite  the  table  with  his  fist  and  de- 
clare with  fierce  oaths  and  unusual  truth 
that  New  York  was  a  brighter  and  better 
place  than  ever  now  that  Mr.  Dillenbeck 
had  returned  to  make  glad  the  hearts  of 
his  friends. 

It  was  nearly  six  o'clock  when  Dolly 
rose  from  the  table,  surfeited  with  cham- 
pagne, but  not  with  flattery,  and  paid  the 
bar  check  of  $51.50,  which  item,  together 
with  the  two-dollar  tip  to  the  waiter,  he 
entered  in  his  note-book.  His  dinner  cost 
him  exactly  thirty  dollars,  three  of  his 
friends  happening  upon  him  by  the 
merest  accident  just  as  he  was  sitting 
down ;  and  when  it  was  over  he  returned 
to  the  St.Anthony  House,  where  he  found 
General  Whiffletree  in  urgent  need  of  fifty 
dollars,  which  he  loaned  him  in  a  rather 
weary  manner,  and  escaped  through  the 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

side-door  for  fear  that  Senator  Hard- 
scrabble,  who  was  chronically  impecuni- 
ous, would  bear  down  on  him  with  similar 
intent.  It  was  just  half-past  ten  when 
he  made  this  last  entry  in  his  note-book 
by  the  light  of  a  street  lamp ;  and,  having 
but  few  resources  within  himself,  he  called 
a  cab  and  drove  up  to  a  famous  gambling- 
house  less  than  half  a  mile  away,  paying 
one  dollar  for  his  ride. 

Here  he  received  a  welcome  that  was 
fully  as  cordial  as  that  extended  to  him 
by  his  friends  in  the  St.  Anthony  House, 
and  much  more  generous,  because  the 
proprietor  instantly  invited  him  to  have 
a  glass  of  wine — something  that  his  more 
intimate  friends  never  dreamed  of  doing. 
Fortified  with  his  share  of  a  bottle  of 
champagne  and  a  long  mild  Havana  cigar, 
Dolly  ascended  to  the  top  floor,  gave  his 
hat,  cane,  and  overcoat  to  an  attendant, 
and  then  entered  the  long,  well-lighted 
room  where  the  play  was  going  on.  Be- 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

side  the  faro-table  sat  his  friend,  Baron 
Bernstoff,  "  keeping  tab  "  for  the  players 
with  an  expression  of  humility  on  his  face 
that  indicated  at  once  to  the  knowing 
observer  that  his  last  stack  of  chips  had 
disappeared  and  he  was  hoping  to  profit 
by  the  bounty  of  some  more  fortunate 
gamester. 

It  may  be  that  some  of  my  readers  will 
fail  to  understand  what  is  meant  by  the 
term  "  keeping  tab,"  and  for  their  benefit 
I  will  explain  that  it  is  simply  a  system 
of  marking  off  on  a  card,  or  by  means  of 
a  box  in  which  are  arranged  fifty-two  but- 
tons, every  card  dealt  from  the  pack  in 
faro,  the  object  being,  of  course,  to  have 
a  check  on  the  dealer.  Naturally  enough 
the  task  cannot  be  performed  in  a  manner 
satisfactory  to  the  players  by  a  salaried 
employee  of  the  gambling-house,  so  it 
usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  some  impecuni- 
ous gamester,  who,  no  longer  able  to  take 
part  in  the  game  himself,  is  forced  to  con- 
222 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

tent  himself  with  watching  the  others.  Of 
course  none  of  the  great  fortunes  of  this 
country  have  been  amassed  by  "  keeping 
tab  "  in  gambling-houses,  nor  is  the  occu- 
pation one  habitually  sought  by  men  of 
recognized  wealth  and  standing  in  the 
community;  but  to  a  player  who  has 
"gone  broke"  the  custody  of  the  box  with 
the  thirteen  rows  of  wooden  buttons  is 
often  a  godsend,  because  it  not  only  gives 
him  an  excuse  for  remaining  at  the  table 
within  sight  of  the  ever-shifting  stacks  of 
chips,  but  also  enables  him  to  secure,  by 
close  attention  to  the  game,  an  occasional 
gratuity  in  the  shape  of  a  stack  of  whites 
from  some  generous  winner. 

Baron  Bernstoff  belonged  to  a  class 
which  is  much  larger  in  New  York  than 
people  imagine.  A  born  gamester,  he  had, 
after  sacrificing  to  his  love  of  play  his  in- 
heritance, his  position  in  society  and  in  the 
army,  and  his  influential  friends,  been 
sent  to  this  country  by  his  father,  in  the 
223 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

vague  hope  that  he  might  at  least  bring  no 
further  odium  on  the  family  name,  which 
was  and  is  one  of  the  most  illustrious  in 
Austria.  There  are  scores  of  men  like 
Baron  Bernstoff  in  New  York,  and  if  one 
wishes  to  cultivate  their  acquaintance  and 
put  oneself  on  a  familiar  footing  with  a 
real  aristocracy,  it  can  be  done  with  no 
other  passport  than  a  handful  of  white 
chips  or  two  or  three  of  the  precious  blue 
ones. 

The  face  of  the  exiled  nobleman  became 
radiant  with  hope  as  he  saw  Dolly  enter 
the  room,  and  in  his  exultation  he  forgot 
to  mark  the  cards  that  were  dealt  at  that 
moment,  until  he  was  sharply  reminded  of 
the  omission  by  a  player  in  whom  he  had 
been  trusting  all  the  evening  for  a  slight 
gratuity.  No  sooner  had  the  turn  been 
called  and  the  box  emptied  of  its  last  card 
than  he  left  his  place  at  the  table  and 
hurried  off  in  quest  of  his  ofttimes  bene- 
factor. He  found  him  seated  on  a  high 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

stool  in  front  of  the  roulette-wheel,  with 
a  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  chips  in  front 
of  him. 

"  Let  her  go  !  "  cried  Dolly,  gaily,  as  he 
stacked  five  dollars'  worth  on  the  double  O. 

"  Double  O  in  the  green,"  said  the  dealer, 
in  his  monotonous  voice,  as  the  ball  ceased 
rolling.  Then  he  swept  the  board  clean, 
added  a  stack  of  blues  to  Dolly's  pile,  and 
started  the  wheel  again. 

"Double  O,  was  it  ?  Well,  I  guess  I  '11 
double  my  stack,  then,  for  luck,"  cried 
Dolly,  who  was  in  fine  feather  now. 

"  Double  O  in  the  green,  repeater,"  said 
the  dealer  as  he  swept  the  board  again  and 
handed  the  fortunate  youth  three  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars'  worth  of  chips. 

"  Well,  I  seem  to  be  in  luck  to-night," 
exclaimed  our  hero,  turning  round  on  his 
stool  and  finding  Bernstoff  behind  him. 
"Baron,  how  are  you?  It  must  have 
been  you  that  gave  me  the  luck." 

"My  dear  Mr.  Dillenbeck,"  cried  the 
is  225 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

noble  exile  as  he  grasped  the  other  warmly 
by  the  hand,  "if  I  cannot  bring  luck  to 
myself  I  would  rather  bring  it  to  you  than 
to  any  one  that  I  know.  Ach,  how  many 
times  have  you  been  my  preserver,  and  it 
is  so,  so  long  since  you  went  away !  But 
luck  and  I  are  strangers  now,  but  you — 
you  have  luck  in  everything,  women  as 
well  as  cards.  Ah,  you  sly  rascal,  I  have 
heard  all  about  you  and  that  beautiful 
little  lady!  How  beautiful  those  chips 
look — what!  Really,  I  am  ashamed  to 
take  them  5  but  let  me  once  get  back  to 
that  faro-table  and  you  will  have  them 
back  before  you  can  win  another  hundred. 
Once  more  you  are  my  preserver,  my  dear, 
good  Mr.  Dillenbeck,  and  never  can  I  re- 
pay your  kindness." 

This  neatly  timed  flattery  had  done  its 
work  and  relieved  Dolly  of  fifty  of  his 
easily  won  dollars.  The  German  returned 
to  his  adored  faro,  and  Dolly  continued  to 
play  with  varying  fortune  until  his  last 
226 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

chip  disappeared  into  the  dealer's  maw. 
It  was  after  midnight  then,  and  he  climbed 
down  from  his  stool,  yawned,  stretched 
himself,  and  told  one  of  the  attendants  to 
bring  him  some  brandy  and  soda. 

Of  the  hundred  dollars  that  he  had 
spent  for  the  elusive  celluloid  disks  there 
remained  to  him  only  the  knowledge  that 
Baron  Bernstoff  had  increased  his  already 
large  indebtedness  to  the  extent  of  fifty 
dollars.  Taking  out  his  note-book,  he 
found  that,  including  what  he  had  lost 
and  a  tip  he  had  just  given  to  the  colored 
attendant,  his  afternoon  and  evening  had 
cost  him  nearly  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  dollars.  Then  he  remembered  Joe's 
words  of  advice  and  multiplied  the  result 
by  three  hundred  and  sixty-five. 

It  was  the  first  time  since  he  began  to 
enjoy  life  that  he  had  paused  to  seriously 
count  the  cost  of  what  he  was  doing ;  and 
now  he  sat  moodily  staring  at  the  figures 
before  him,  and  wondering  if  it  were  true 
227 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

that  he  was  wasting  his  patrimony  at  the 
rate  of  eighty-five  thousand  a  year,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  cost  of  a  very  extravagant  mode 
of  living.  It  was  true  that  he  owned  a 
half -interest  in  the  forthcoming  tour  of  the 
Maude  Wheatleigh  company,  but  it  would 
be  three  or  four  months  before  he  could 
hope  to  draw  anything  from  that  source, 
and  in  the  mean  time  he  would  be  obliged 
to  expend  a  great  deal  for  new  scenery,  cos- 
tumes, lithographs,  and  other  accessories ; 
for  he  had  undertaken  to  advance  all  the 
money  necessary  for  the  tour,  Messrs.  Hus- 
tle &  Hardup  contributing  their  know- 
ledge of  the  business,  ripe  judgment,  and 
cultivated  artistic  tastes.  He  had  no  doubt 
that  his  theatrical  investment  would  pay 
him  handsomely  in  the  long  run.  He  only 
wished  that  he  could  go  into  some  other 
enterprise  that  would  bring  him  some  re- 
turn— and  just  at  this  moment  some  one 
touched  him  on  the  shoulder,  and  he  heard 
the  Baron's  voice :  "  Come,  my  dear  Mr. 

228 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Dillenbeck,  let  us  go  downstairs  and  par- 
take of  the  excellent  supper  which  is 
spread  for  the  lucky  and  the  unlucky 
ones  alike.  Besides,  I  have  a  suggestion 
to  offer  you — one  that  may  prove  of  value 
to  you  if  you  choose  to  act  upon  it." 

They  seated  themselves  at  one  end  of 
the  long  table  in  the  basement,  and  over 
a  delicious  supper,  well  cooked  and  prop- 
erly served,  Baron  Bernstoff  unfolded  his 
scheme,  which  was  sufficiently  visionary 
to  enlist  Dolly's  fancy  at  once. 

"  If  you  were  living  in  Paris,  my  dear 
Mr.  Dillenbeck,"  said  the  Baron,  impres- 
sively, "  you  would  have  a  newspaper  of 
your  own  with  which  to  impress  your  own 
individuality  on  the  public.  Surely  there 
is  no  better-known  character  on  Broad- 
way than  yourself.  Wherever  I  go  I  hear 
of  you.  Your  sayings — are  they  not  on 
every  tongue  already?  Now  why  not  a 
paper  which  shall  every  week  bring  arti- 
cles and  poems,  and  perhaps  even  pic- 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

tures,  all  of  which  shall  be  of  your  genre  ? 
And  besides,  just  think  of  the  money  that 
you  will  make  after  the  first  two  or  three 
months !  You  will  find,  my  dear  Mr.  Dil- 
lenbeck,  that  such  a  journal  will  have  a 
great  reclame  from  the  very  first." 

"  Do  newspapers  of  that  sort  make  much 
money  ? "  inquired  Dolly,  eagerly. 

"  Money  ?  They  make  it  by  the  barrel ! 
I  have  no  doubt  that  with  the  subscrip- 
tions which  would  come  pouring  in,  and 
the  advertisements, — which  would  com- 
mand a  very  high  price  because  of  your 
fame  as  a  viveur  and  a  man  of  liberality, 
— such  a  paper  would  pay  at  least  several 
thousand  dollars  a  month." 

Several  thousand  a  month !  That  was 
a  project  that  was  well  worth  considering, 
and  Dolly  walked  home  that  night  with 
the  newspaper  idea  buzzing  in  his  roomy 
head. 


230 


CHAPTER  XVI 

IT  is  probable  that  the  paper-starting 
microbe,  which  finds  lodgment  in  the  nar- 
rowest of  brain-cells,  had  lain  dormant  in 
Dolly's  soul  ever  since  he  came  into  the 
possession  of  his  patrimony,  and  needed 
only  some  such  invigorating  force  as  the 
chance  suggestion  of  the  impractical  Ger- 
man gamester  to  infuse  it  with  life  and 
cause  it  to  take  complete  control  of  the 
young  man's  senses. 

He  talked  it  over  with  Miss  Wheatleigh 
and  was  surprised  to  see  how  quickly  she 
came  over  to  his  way  of  thinking,  for  she 
was  apt  to  treat  his  schemes  with  ridicule 
and  contempt. 

He  was  still  more  surprised  to  find  that 
Mr.  Freelance,  to  whom  he  confided  his 

231 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

idea  the  day  after  his  conversation  with 
the  actress,  considered  the  project  a  fairly 
good  one,  and  remarked  that  he  had 
known  of  people  who  made  fortunes  out 
of  weekly  journals. 

As  for  his  St.  Anthony  House  friends, 
— Senator  Hardscrabble,  General  WhiffLe- 
tree,  old  Eungdown,  and  the  rest, — they 
asked  so  many  questions  and  displayed 
such  a  kindly  and  sincere  interest  in  his 
new  enterprise  that  Dolly  was  soon  con- 
vinced that  the  step  which  he  was  about 
to  take  was  one  that  would  inevitably  re- 
dound to  his  credit  and  make  him  a  still 
more  important  factor  than  he  had  ever 
been  before  in  the  life  of  the  town. 

The  fact  was  that  Dolly's  friends  were, 
as  usual,  influenced  by  purely  selfish  mo- 
tives in  the  interest  which  they  took  in 
his  proposed  venture.  Maude  saw  in  the 
paper  simply  another  vehicle  for  the  ex- 
ploiting of  her  beauty  and  talents;  and 
besides,  she  would  rather  have  her  backer 

232 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

devote  his  personal  attention  to  that  than 
to  her  own  affairs,  which  she  knew  could 
be  much  more  satisfactorily  handled  by 
Mr.  Freelance ;  while  the  astute  business 
manager  cared  very  little  what  his  patron 
did,  provided  he  kept  out  of  the  way  and 
did  not  trouble  him  with  harebrained 
schemes  for  the  advancement  of  Miss 
Wheatleigh's  interests — schemes  which  he 
was  always  obliged  to  accord  the  courtesy 
of  listening  to  and  apparently  considering. 

The  wine-bibbers  rejoiced,  as  they  al- 
ways did  when  there  was  anything  new 
afloat,  because  starting  a  paper  meant 
spending  more  money,  some  of  which 
ought  to  fall  into  their  pockets;  to  say 
nothing  of  the  various  banquets  and  social 
occasions  which  they  were  sure  would 
mark  every  stage  of  Dolly's  progress  in 
his  new  enterprise,  as  they  had  in  the  im- 
portant work  of  converting  Miss  Wheat- 
leigh  into  a  theatrical  star. 

It  should  be  said  of  Billy  Freelance, 
233 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

however,  that  he  was  at  least  honest 
enough  to  give  his  chief  a  few  words  of 
timely  caution  in  regard  to  the  conduct 
of  the  new  publication,  and  that  he  even 
went  through  the  form — and  he  knew  at 
the  time  that  it  was  a  vain  one — of  advis- 
ing him  to  keep  his  money  in  his  pocket 
and  not  invest  it  in  a  business  of  which 
he  was  totally  ignorant. 

"  What  did  I  know  about  the  theatrical 
business  when  I  started  in  to  back  Wheat- 
leigh  ? "  he  retorted.  "  I  knew  nothing  at 
all,  and  there  were  croakers  right  here  on 
Broadway  who  said  I  'd  make  a  failure  of 
it.  About  the  only  real  friend  I  had  was 
Whiffletree —  Oh,  I  know  you  don't  like 
him,  so  you  need  n't  grin  every  time  his 
name  comes  up.  Well,  he  told  me  to  go 
ahead  and  not  mind  what  people  said, 
and  I  'm  sure  you  ought  to  know  whether 
the  girl 's  a  success  or  no." 

For  a  moment  the  business  manager 
of  Miss  Wheatleigh's  tour  regarded  the 

234 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

backer  of  the  enterprise  with  an  expres- 
sion of  pity  on  his  face,  and  then  replied, 
"Yes,  I  think  the  young  lady  is  on  the 
highroad  to  success ;  and  of  course  it  's 
entirely  owing  to  you  that  she  7s  done  as 
well  as  she  has,  for  of  course  she  's  to- 
tally destitute  of  talent  and  industry,  and 
the  people  who  have  managed  her  have 
never  had  any  experience  and  are  utterly 
incompetent,  as  every  one  knows.  My 
dear  Dillenbeck,  the  trouble  with  you  is 
that  you  have  never  yet  learned  to  distin- 
guish between  the  people  who  try  to  save 
money  for  you  and  those  who  do  nothing 
except  help  you  to  spend  it." 

He  spoke  so  seriously  that  Dolly  felt  a 
little  bit  ashamed  of  his  own  self-confident, 
braggart  talk,  for  he  knew  well  enough 
that  more  than  once  Freelance  had  saved 
him  from  some  expensive  bit  of  folly  on 
which  his  heart  was  set ;  and  besides,  had 
he  not  proved  a  most  important  factor  in 
the  success  of  the  young  actress  ? 
235 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"Oh  well,  you  know  I  appreciate  all 
you  've  done  for  her,  and  for  me  too,"  he 
cried,  impetuously,  "  and  that 's  why  I 
wanted  your  advice  about  this  paper. 
Come  into  the  St.  Anthony  and  have  a 
small  bottle  with  me,  and  we  '11  talk  it  all 
over" — for  their  conversation  had  taken 
place  on  the  Broadway  sidewalk,  directly 
in  front  of  that  famous  place  of  refresh- 
ment. 

"A  small  bottle  in  the  St.  Anthony 
cafe ! "  cried  Mr.  Freelance,  with  simulated 
horror.  "If  I  were  to  be  seen  drinking 
champagne  there  in  the  bright  glare  of  day 
everybody  would  think  that  the  Wheat- 
leigh  combination  had  gone  broke.  Don't 
you  know  that  one  of  the  most  sacredly 
guarded  traditions  of  the  theatrical  busi- 
ness is  that  no  manager  must  ever  be  seen 
drinking  wine  unless  he  is  on  the  very 
edge  of  bankruptcy?  Come  around  the 
corner  and  I  '11  see  if  I  can  take  a  cocktail 
with  you  without  affecting  the  financial 
236 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

standing  of  the  great  firm  of  Hustle  & 
Hardup,  with  whose  interests  we  are  both 
identified." 

Seated  at  a  small  table  in  the  back  room 
of  a  quiet  saloon  but  little  patronized  by 
theatrical  folk,  Mr.  Freelance  listened  at- 
tentively while  his  patron  unfolded  his 
scheme  for  the  establishment  of  a  "bright, 
snappy,  live,  metropolitan  weekly,"  the 
very  thing,  he  declared,  that  New-York- 
ers had  been  waiting  for  for  years — just 
the  thing  that  they  would  jump  for  the 
very  minute  it  was  set  before  them. 

"  He  's  got  it  bad,"  said  Mr.  Freelance 
to  himself  as  he  listened  to  the  other's 
flow  of  enthusiasm.  He  had  learned  of 
the  plan  the  night  before,  and  had  gone 
over  it  with  Maude,  who  said  it  would  be 
a  good  thing  to  have  at  least  one  paper  in 
which  they  could  publish  anything  that 
they  wanted ;  and  as  he  knew  that  Dolly's 
mind  was  made  up,  he  made  no  attempt  to 
dissuade  him,  but  satisfied  his  conscience 
237 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

by  urging  him  to  secure  some  good,  hard- 
headed  man  as  business  manager,  and 
some  bright  young  newspaper  man  as 
editor. 

"  Oh,  that  part  of  it  will  be  all  right," 
rejoined  Dolly,  hastily.  And  as  Mr.  Free- 
lance went  on  his  way  he  wondered  which 
of  the  parasites  that  hung  about  his  patron 
would  succeed  in  getting  placed  on  the 
salary  list  of  the  paper. 

As  for  Dolly,  he  hastened  to  the  St. 
Anthony  cafe,  where  he  was  immediately 
surrounded  by  his  hangers-on,  who  seemed 
to  rise  up  out  of  the  earth  the  moment  he 
crossed  the  threshold.  All  were  deeply  in- 
terested in  his  new  project,  and  eager  to 
learn  from  his  own  lips  how  soon  the  first 
number  of  the  paper  was  to  be  issued. 

"  I  '11  tell  you  what  it  is,  my  boy,"  said 
Senator  Hardscrabble  as  he  carefully  low- 
ered himself  into  a  big  arm-chair,  "  I  Ve 
been  giving  considerable  thought  to  this 
newspaper  project  of  yours  since  you  first 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

mentioned  it  to  me ;  and  although  I  was  a 
leetle  mite  dubious  at  first,  I  've  just  about 
made  up  my  mind  that  it  ;s  going  to  be 
even  a  bigger  success  than  your  theatrical 
enterprise,  and  we  all  know  how  that 
charming  actress  of  yours  has  caught  the 
public  fancy.  Now  if  you  've  only  got 
nerve  enough  to  stand  up  and  face  the 
music  you  '11  come  out  all  right  in  the 
end,  and  I  can  answer  for  it  that  not 
one  of  your  friends  here  will  desert  you 
so  long  as  they  can  lift  a  hand  to  help 
you." 

The  Senator  paused  and  blew  his  nose 
on  his  red  bandana  handkerchief,  while 
a  murmur  of  approval,  emphasized  by 
several  ponderous  blows  on  the  table,  ran 
through  the  company. 

"  I  can  vouch  for  every  gentleman  pres- 
ent, I  believe,"  said  Judge  Doonothing, 
pompously,  "when  I  corroborate  the  as- 
sertion of  Senator  Hardscrabble  that  your 
friends — your  true  friends,  understand 
239 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

me — will  rally  about  you  and  give  their 
heartiest  support  to  your  enterprise." 

Dolly  was  deeply  affected  by  this  dis- 
play of  unselfish  loyalty  on  the  part  of 
his  friends,  and  proposed  that  they  should 
all  join  him  in  drinking  to  the  success  of 
the  undertaking ;  and  so  sincere  were  his 
well-wishers  in  their  determination  to 
serve  him  that  not  one  of  them  shrank 
from  the  ordeal. 

"Have  you  fixed  upon  a  name  yet?" 
inquired  Mr.  Rungdown. 

"  A  great  deal  depends  upon  the  name," 
observed  the  Judge,  in  tones  suggestive  of 
great  native  sagacity,  quickened  by  close 
observation  and  profound  thought. 

"  I  'm  going  to  call  it  the  High  Roller," 
said  Dolly.  "  How  does  that  strike  you, 
Judge?" 

"  Admirable,"  cried  that  hoary  master 
of  jurisprudence,  "and  particularly  ap- 
plicable to  a  paper  published  by  a  young 
man  who  has  shown  himself  to  be  one  of 
240 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  finest  specimens  of  the  genus  high 
roller  that  the  town  has  seen  within  my 
recollection. — Gentlemen,  I  call  upon  you 
all  to  drink  to  the  success  of  the  two 
high  rollers,  T.  Adolphus  Dillenbeck,  Esq., 
whom  we  all  know  and  love,  and  the  new 
journal  by  means  of  which  it  is  his  pur- 
pose to  impress  his  individuality  upon 
the  entire  country. —  Mr.  Dillenbeck,  your 
very  humble  servant,  sir." 

The  toast  was  drunk  with  much  enthu- 
siasm, and  then  Dolly  ordered  another 
bottle  of  champagne,  and  returned  thanks 
with  so  much  eloquence  and  feeling  that 
Senator  Hardscrabble  and  Mr.  Eungdown 
sniffed  audibly,  while  the  Judge  grasped 
his  hand  and,  squeezing  it  firmly  within 
his  own  huge  paw,  wrung  it  heartily  and 
murmured,  "  God  bless  you,  my  dear  boy ; 
you  '11  never  want  for  a  friend  so  long  as 
I  am  above  ground" — which  was  an  un- 
usual display  of  feeling  for  that  self-con- 
tained jurist. 

is  241 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Just  at  this  moment  General  Whiffle- 
tree  entered  the  cafe  and  took  a  hasty 
and  anxious  survey  of  the  people  assem- 
bled therein.  His  face  clouded  as  his  eye 
fell  upon  the  group  at  the  table,  for  he 
did  not  like  to  have  his  dear  friends  the 
Judge  and  the  Senator  obtain  too  strong  a 
hold  on  his  particularly  dear  young  friend, 
Mr.  Dillenbeck.  He  was  in  a  rather  un- 
gracious mood,  therefore,  when  he  dropped 
into  the  only  vacant  chair  at  the  table; 
nor  did  his  good  humor  return  when  he 
saw  that  the  bottle  was  empty  and  all 
the  glasses  were  freshly  filled — a  circum- 
stance due  to  the  hasty  precaution  of  Mr. 
Rungdown,  who  had  noted  his  approach. 
As  for  Dolly,  he  was  so  deeply  engrossed 
in  his  talk  with  the  Judge  and  the  Sen- 
ator, who  sat  one  on  either  side  of  him, 
that  he  scarcely  noticed  the  new  arrival, 
and  so  it  happened  that  for  the  space  of 
fully  two  minutes  the  old  warrior  sat 
silent  and  fuming,  looking  enviously  at 
242 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  wine  sparkling  in  the  glasses,  and 
wondering  suspiciously  if  his  friends  were 
trying  to  acquire  undue  influence  over 
the  youth  who  did  so  much  for  them  all. 

Presently  the  General  uttered  a  sort  of 
dry  bark,  his  usual  signal  of  distress,  and 
one  with  which  even  the  waiters  were 
familiar  5  but  as  that  failed  to  elicit  any 
response  he  leaned  across  the  board  and 
said  in  aggressively  distinct  tones,  "  Well, 
Mr.  Dillenbeck,  you  seem  to  have  some 
very  important  business  on  hand  this 
afternoon  ?  " 

n  We  7re  just  talking  over  that  news- 
paper scheme,"  replied  Dolly,  carelessly, 
for  he  was  intent  on  what  he  was  saying 
and  did  not  care  to  be  interrupted. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  call  her  ? "  de- 
manded the  General,  brusquely,  for  he 
was  determined  to  force  himself  into  the 
conversation. 

"  The  High  Roller,1'  replied  the  other. 

The  General  uttered  a  snort  of  sup- 
243 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

pressed  rage,  which  did  not  escape  the 
ears  of  the  other  guests,  although  Dolly 
was  so  much  interested  in  his  own  rapid 
flow  of  words  that  he  did  not  hear  it. 
Three  things  contributed  to  General 
Whiffletree's  fevered  condition  of  mind: 
he  felt  that  he  had  been  neglected,  if  not 
actually  snubbed ;  he  was  dry  while  others 
near  him  were  partaking  of  refreshment; 
and  he  realized  that  Dolly,  whom  he  had 
always  regarded  as  his  own  special  protege 
or  discovery,  had  taken  an  important  step 
without  consulting  him.  Some  one — the 
Judge  or  the  Senator,  probably — had  sug- 
gested the  name,  for  he  surely  could  not 
have  thought  of  it  himself. 

"Well,  of  all  fool  names  that  I  ever 
heard  of  in  my  life  that  is  the  very  worst," 
exclaimed  the  old  man,  bringing  his  fist 
down  on  the  table  with  a  loud  bang  as  he 
spoke.  "  Who  ever  put  it  into  your  head 
to  call  it  such  a  thing  as  that?  Why,  a 
paper  called  the  High  Rotter  would  be 
244 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

laughed  out  of  the  town,  sir,  the  first  day 
it  was  seen  on  the  news-stands." 

A  sudden  hush  fell  upon  the  group 
gathered  about  the  table.  Every  eye  was 
turned  on  the  blustering  and  indignant 
Whiffletree  and  then  upon  Dolly,  whose 
face  was  rapidly  changing  from  an  angry 
red  to  the  ghastly  white  which  indicates 
a  sudden  and  bitter  wrath.  If  the  Prince 
of  Wales  had  been  openly  insulted  in  the 
Marlborough  Club  the  speechless  conster- 
nation could  not  have  been  greater.  The 
most  sacred  laws  of  professional  genial- 
ity had  been  brutally  violated,  and  that, 
too,  by  one  of  the  most  accomplished  and 
distinguished  genials  that  ever  fattened 
at  another's  cost. 

Adolph,  the  waiter,  hovering  ever 
watchfully,  as  was  his  wont,  within  hail 
of  Dolly's  eye,  heard  the  General's  stri- 
dent roar,  and  leaned  against  a  heavy  arm- 
chair with  white  face  and  trembling  limbs. 
That  the  old  soldier  had  suddenly  gone 
16*  245 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

crazy  he  did  not  for  a  moment  doubt,  and 
an  awful  fear  came  over  him  that  in  his 
delirium  he  would  inflict  upon  the  open- 
handed  young  viveur  some  bodily  harm 
which  might  drive  him  forever  from  the 
cafe.  What  if  the  poor  boy  were  to  be 
killed  before  his  very  eyes — and  not  half 
his  fortune  spent,  if  current  rumors  were 
to  be  credited!  Adolph's  brain  reeled. 
In  all  his  twenty  years'  experience  as  a 
waiter  he  had  never  known  any  one  to 
question  either  the  honor,  the  veracity, 
the  motives,  or  the  wisdom  of  a  man  who 
was  in  the  very  act  of  treating  his  friends 
to  champagne.  Disputes  had  occurred 
over  beer  or  whisky,  but  he  was  sure  that 
the  history  of  the  St.  Anthony  cafe  con- 
tained no  record  of  such  an  assault  upon 
the  good  taste  and  sagacity  of  a  gentle- 
man who  had  already  ordered  two  bottles 
of  wine  and  was  good  for  as  many  more 
before  the  end  of  the  session. 
A  professional  genial  of  General  Whif- 

246 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

fletree's  standing  who  could  be  guilty  of 
such  a  breach  of  bar-room  etiquette  was 
capable  of  murder,  and  Adolph  breathed 
a  silent  prayer  that  the  blow  might  fall 
on  any  head  but  that  of  the  gilded  youth 
whose  tips  would  in  a  few  months  com- 
plete the  sum  needed  for  the  purchase  of 
the  little  vineyard  in  the  south  of  France 
on  which  the  alert  and  silent  servitor  had 
long  since  set  his  heart. 

Years  afterward,  while  sitting  in  the 
shade  of  the  fig-trees  belonging  to  that 
long-coveted  vineyard,  the  gray-haired  ex- 
waiter  described  to  his  friends  gathered 
about  him  the  rush  of  emotions  which 
overpowered  him  on  that  fateful  after- 
noon in  the  Cafe  Saint  Antoine,  when  le 
gros  General  Whiffletree  insulted  his  friend 
and  patron,  "  le  bon  petit  Americain  d  qui 
je  dois  mSme  cette  propriety  " 

"  Why  the  deuce  did  n't  you  consult  me 
before  you  made  such  an  ass  of  yourself  ? " 
continued  the  General,  querulously ;  and 
247 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 
then,  seeing  for  the  first  time  the  pallor 
on  Dolly's  face,  he  paused  and  began  to 
mop  his  face  nervously  with  his  handker- 
chief. 

Then  Dolly  Dillenbeck,  from  his  place  at 
the  head  of  the  table :  "  General  Whiffle- 
tree,  I  have  come  here  for  the  purpose  of 
talking  over  certain  matters  of  business 
with  my  friends,  and  I  must  beg  that  you 
will  not  interfere  in  our  deliberations.  If 
you  have  any  suggestions  to  offer  I  shall 
be  glad  to  hear  them  at  some  future  time. 
— Adolph,  another  bottle  of  the  .same ;  and, 
by  the  way,  see  here  one  moment."  He 
whispered  a  word  in  the  waiter's  ear,  and 
then  resumed  his  conversation  in  an  un- 
dertone with  the  Judge  and  the  Senator. 

The  General  made  no  further  remark, 
for  there  was  a  certain  note — cold  and 
hard — in  the  young  man's  voice  that  he 
had  never  heard  before,  and  he  did  not 
know  exactly  what  to  make  of  it.  He 
thought  he  would  say  nothing  further 

248 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

until  after  the  champagne  had  been  con- 
sumed, by  which  time  he  thought  that 
Dolly  would  be  in  a  better  frame  of 
mind ;  and  he  knew  that  his  throat  was 
in  a  terrible  state  for  lack  of  moisture. 

"  Well,  Senator,  shall  we  drink  to  the 
success  of  the  High  Roller  f  "  cried  Dillen- 
beck,  gaily,  as  Adolph  deftly  removed  the 
cork  and  filled  up  the  glasses. 

"  To  the  High  Roller,  my  boy,  and  may 
it  always  be  a  credit  to  you,"  said  Senator 
Hardscrabble,  raising  his  glass  with  elab- 
orate courtesy. 

"Hold  on  a  minute,"  cried  General 
Whiffletree;  "this  rascal  forgot  to  bring 
me  a  glass." 

And  now  came  Adolph's  opportunity 
He  had  always  hated  the  old  man  for  his 
bullying  ways,  and  despised  him  as  only 
a  well-trained  servitor  can  despise  a  man 
who  invariably  eats  and  drinks  at  the  ex- 
pense of  his  friends.  He  had  him  at  his 
mercy  now,  and  the  voice  in  which  he 
249 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

addressed  him  was  perfectly  audible  to 
everybody  at  the  table,  and  perhaps  to 
those  at  the  adjoining  tables :  "  I  beg  par- 
don, sir,  but  Mr.  Dillenbeck  particularly 
directed  me  to  serve  only  those  gentlemen 
who  were  drinking  with  him  before  you 
came,  sir." 

The  other  genials  heard,  and  their  hearts 
were  glad.  To  them  the  High  Roller  was 
simply  a  trough  at  which  they  would  feed, 
and  now  there  would  be  one  snout  the  less 
to  plunge  in  it. 

"Here  's  to  the  High  Roller  and  the 
king  of  all  the  high  rollers,"  they  shouted 
jubilantly,  as  they  drained  their  glasses. 

"Thank  you,  gentlemen,"  said  Dillen- 
beck, significantly.  "  I  'm  glad  to  know 
who  my  real  friends  are." 

General  Whiffletree  arose,  pushed  back 
his  chair,  and  stalked  away  without  a 
word. 


250 


CHAPTER  XVII 

DOLLY  DILLENBECK  plunged  into  his 
new  enterprise  with  the  eagerness  and 
enthusiasm  of  a  school-boy  intent  upon 
the  time-honored  feat  of  putting  red  pep- 
per on  the  stove.  Senator  Hardscrabble 
and  Judge  Doonothing  kindly  offered  to 
take  a  great  deal  of  the  work  off  his  hands, 
and  agreed  to  meet  him  every  evening  at 
half -past  six  in  the  St.  Anthony  cafe  and 
report  progress.  The  selection  of  this 
hour  for  the  daily  consultation  proved  a 
peculiarly  happy  one,  as  it  usually  re- 
sulted in  an  invitation  to  dinner,  which 
they  never  refused,  no  matter  how  press- 
ing their  engagements  might  be. 

Dr.  Puffe  was  so  impressed  with  the 
brilliant  prospects  of  the  new  journal 
251 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

that  he  lost  no  time  in  seeking  out  its 
projector  and  offering  his  services  as 
editor,  although  it  involved  the  abandon- 
ment of  a  wide  and  lucrative  connection 
with  various  weeklies  to  which  he  was 
in  the  habit  of  contributing  paragraphs, 
chiefly  of  a  flattering  personal  nature. 
At  the  advice  of  his  two  chief  advisers 
Dolly  installed  him  in  the  post,  and  he 
instantly  began  to  draw  his  salary.  Fine 
offices  were  leased  in  a  building  con- 
veniently near  to  upper  Broadway,  and 
furnished  in  an  appropriate  manner  with 
tasteful  and  costly  furniture.  At  least 
eight  roll-top  desks  were  included  among 
the  articles  bought  for  the  staff  of  the  High 
Roller,  and  two  of  these  were  promptly  ap- 
propriated by  Dolly's  two  elderly  advisers. 
The  office  soon  became  the  headquarters 
for  the  innumerable  band  of  followers 
that  the  simple-minded  young  Croesus 
had  gathered  about  him  during  his  brief 
career ;  and  so  many  were  the  callers  who 

252 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

wished  to  give  suitable  expression  to  their 
cordial  feelings  that  Judge  Doonothing 
induced  Ms  patron  saint  to  fit  up  a  small 
office  as  a  sort  of  miniature  cafe,  and  stock 
it  with  a  choice  assortment  of  liquors, 
cigars,  crackers,  canned  meats,  and  other 
light  refreshments. 

"  There ! "  exclaimed  the  Judge  as  he 
surveyed  the  rows  of  bottles  and  cans,  the 
ice-chest,  the  cases  of  claret  and  cham- 
pagne, and  the  huge  demijohn  of  fine  old 
Bourbon  whisky ;  "that 's  the  sort  of  closet 
that  a  gentleman  should  always  keep  if 
he  's  able  to.  Now  if  a  gentleman  hap- 
pens to  drop  in  for  a  social  call  you  can 
entertain  him  in  a  suitable  manner,  and 
maybe  invite  him  to  take  a  bite  of  some- 
thing, if  it  happens  to  be  around  lunch- 
time.  You  '11  find  that  this  little  closet 
will  go  a  long  way  toward  making  the 
office  popular ;  and  the  more  people  there 
are  who  drop  in  here  in  the  course  of  the 
week,  the  more  there  '11  be  to  boom  the 
253 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

paper  and  talk  it  up  wherever  they  go. 
Why,  just  among  my  own  circle  of  friends 
in  the  hotels  along  Broadway  I  've  talked 
the  High  Roller  up  till  they  're  all  crazy 
about  it.  I  tell  you,  when  that  first  num- 
ber comes  out  there  '11  be  a  perfect  stam- 
pede after  it  all  through  the  town." 

The  words  of  the  veteran  jurist  were 
prophetic;  for,  from  the  moment  of  the 
establishment  of  the  refreshment  depart- 
ment, the  throng  of  visitors  steadily  in- 
creased, until  the  number  of  well-wishers 
became  so  large  that  Dolly  felt  sure  that 
the  paper  would  leap  at  once  into  un- 
bounded popular  favor. 

Among  the  other  surprising  and  encour- 
aging phenomena  which  helped  to  keep 
his  spirits  up  at  this  time  was  the  discov- 
ery of  latent  literary  talent  among  certain 
friends  of  his  whom  he  had  never  sus- 
pected of  any  such  accomplishment.  Mr. 
Eungdown  speedily  developed  a  passion 
for  writing  reminiscences  of  that  fortu- 
254 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

nate  dramatic  era  with  which  his  own  fame 
as  a  Shakespearian  actor  was  indissolu- 
bly  connected,  and  solemnly  assured  Mr. 
Dillenbeck  that  the  publication  of  these 
memoirs  would  awaken  a  perfect  tidal- 
wave  of  interest  and  enthusiasm  among 
all  the  "  old-timers  "  on  Broadway. 

"  I  'm  an  old  newspaper  man  myself," 
said  Senator  Hardscrabble,  cheerily,  as 
he  balanced  a  large  sardine  on  a  bit  of 
cracker  and  then  bolted  it  at  a  single 
gulp,  "and  I  'm  getting  up  a  few  little 
spicy  stories  that  '11  set  'em  all  wild." 

Since  the  opening  of  the  office  buffet 
the  Senator  had  taken  most  of  his  meals 
there,  incidentally  making  fearful  havoc 
with  the  demijohn  of  Bourbon  whisky; 
while  in  feats  with  plate  and  glass  the 
Judge  kept  even  pace  with  him, 

"  My  boy,"  said  that  eminent  jurist,  in 
a  burst  of  confidence,  "  just  wait  till  you 
read  some  of  the  bright,  snappy  para- 
graphs I  ;m  getting  up  for  you — meat  in 

255 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

every  one  of  'em.  Why,  I  can  remember 
the  time  when  Major  Noah  and  I  used  to 
write  the  bulk  of  the  matter  in  his  Sun- 
day Times,  and  a  fine  scholarly  sheet  it 
was,  too,  in  those  days,  I  can  tell  you." 

Dr.  Puffe  went  through  the  form  of 
reading  the  contributions  of  the  three 
"  old-timers,"  and  pronounced  them  excel- 
lent, thereby  obeying  one  of  the  cardinal 
laws  of  genialdom,  which  makes  it  obliga- 
tory for  a  genial  to  do  a  favor  to  another 
genial  in  every  instance  in  which  the  cost 
falls  upon  somebody  else's  shoulders.  Of 
course  no  true  genial  will  ever  trouble 
himself  to  help  or  serve  any  one  at  his 
own  expense.  There  was  not  one  of  Dil- 
lenbeck's  friends  who  was  not  the  most 
obliging  creature  in  the  world  when  it 
came  to  getting  that  amiable  young  man 
to  do  something  for  somebody  who  could 
in  turn  do  something  for  somebody  else. 

So  it  came  to  pass  that  before  the  first 
number  of  the  High  Roller  was  ready  for 
256 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  press  its  projector  found  himself  the 
possessor  of  a  large  quantity  of  manu- 
script, for  which  he  had  paid  handsomely 
in  advance,  and  which  was  obviously  in- 
tended to  interest  and  please  the  "old- 
timers,"  as  its  authors  were  pleased  to  des- 
ignate their  few  mildewed  contemporaries. 
The  first  number  of  the  High  Rotter 
was  indeed  a  noteworthy  production.  Its 
front  page  contained  a  portrait  of  Maude 
Wheatleigh, — thanks  to  Freelance,  it  was 
an  excellent  likeness  and  a  decent  piece  of 
artistic  work, — and  accompanying  it  was  a 
sketch  of  the  young  woman's  professional 
career,  written  in  Dr.  Puffe's  most  fulsome 
style.  Judge  Doonothing's  "  snappy  para- 
graphs" occupied  about  two  columns  of 
space  and  were  marked  by  a  distinctly 
"old-time"  flavor.  Many  of  them  bore 
pleasant  testimony  to  the  excellence  of  the 
liquors  and  meats  served  at  various  places 
of  refreshment  situated  within  easy  reach 
of  the  office. 

"  257 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Senator  Hardscrabble's  contribution, 
entitled  "Personal  Reminiscences  of  a 
Statesman/'  betrayed  a  close  familiarity 
with  the  legendary  lore  of  Arkansas,  and 
also  with  American  humorous  literature 
of  the  bar-room  and  almanac  schools.  The 
page  devoted  to  theatrical  affairs  bristled 
with  portraits  of  actors  and  managers, 
and  was  made  up  largely  of  puffs  of  those 
people  whose  connection  with  playhouses 
enables  them  to  have  a  voice  in  the  distri- 
bution of  free  tickets.  The  leading  arti- 
cle on  this  page — a  leaden-footed  essay  on 
"The  Stage  of  Edmund  Kean's  Time"— 
bore  the  signature  of  Horatio  Rungdown ; 
and  there  was  another  sketch  from  his 
prolific  pen,  printed  in  another  part  of 
the  paper,  entitled  "Old-time  Theatrical 
Chop-houses,  and  the  Actors  who  Fre- 
quented Them." 

There  was  a  literary  department  in  the 
High  Roller,  and  in  this  number  it  was 
filled  up  with  an  article  called  "  Men  and 

258 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Women  who  Have  Made  New  York  the 
Literary  Center  of  the  Continent,"  and 
signed  by  one  of  the  most  depraved  liter- 
ary hacks  in  the  town.  In  this  case  the 
writer  had  simply  puffed  every  one  who 
had  anything  whatever  to  do  with  the 
purchase  of  manuscript  in  magazine  or 
publishers'  offices ;  and  so  thorough  was 
his  mastery  of  the  subject  in  hand  that 
he  had  contrived  to  mention  not  only  the 
great  lights  of  literature,  but  also  a  large 
number  of  obscure  employees  whom  he 
had  found  to  have  some  very  slight  influ- 
ence in  the  selection  of  matter. 

There  was  also  a  department  called  "Up 
and  Down  Broadway,"  consisting  of  para- 
graphs beginning,  "Happening  to  meet 
Sewer-inspector  McElroy  in  the  corridor  of 
the  Van  Dyke  House  the  other  evening," 
or  "Coroner  Pigeontoes,  the  well-known 
raconteur,  entertained  a  choice  party  of 
friends  in  one  of  the  private  rooms  of  the 
St.  Anthony  House  the  other  evening,  and 
259 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

told  the  following  '  good  one '  on  Charley 
Ginfizz,  who  was  present,  of  course."  This 
interesting  and  instructive  page  was  also 
rich  in  anecdotal  lore  concerning  the  re- 
markable things  that  actors,  actresses,  and 
managers  did  when  not  engaged  in  their 
professional  duties.  Miss  Birdie  Marigold, 
of  the  "  Scuttle  of  Coal "  company,  who 
was  "contributing  to  the  leading  maga- 
zines and  reviews";  genial  Treasurer 
Knockdown,  who  was  fond  of  "rooting" 
at  base-ball  games ;  whole-souled  Manager 
Freepass,  who  was  noted  for  his  courte- 
ous attention  to  the  press ;  comedian  Alf 
Rocks,  the  famous  practical  joker — these 
and  a  dozen  more  of  the  important  char- 
acters who  help  to  make  the  world  go 
round  on  its  own  axis  had  their  place  in 
"  Up  and  Down  Broadway." 

There  was  also  a  circumstantial  account 

of  the  last  performance  in  which  Edwin 

Forrest  took  part,  "  now  printed  for  the 

first  time,"  and  compiled  by  the  "odd 

260 


"  THE  POP  OF  THE  CORK  AWOKE  MR.  RUNGDOWN/ 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

genius  "  who  had  acted  as  gasman  of  the 
theater  on  that  fateful  night. 

The  paper  was  well  displayed  at  the 
news-stands  on  upper  Broadway,  and 
eagerly  bought  by  every  one  who  had 
designs  of  any  sort  on  the  pocket  of  its 
proprietor.  When  that  fortunate  and  self- 
confident  young  man  took  his  afternoon 
walk  on  the  day  of  publication  he  was 
warmly  congratulated  by  scores  of  his 
followers  on  the  handsome  appearance  of 
the  High  Roller,  the  beauty  of  the  picture 
which  adorned  its  front  page,  the  clever- 
ness shown  in  its  editorial  paragraphs,  and 
the  spicy  flavor  which  marked  its  dramatic 
department.  There  were  even  those  who 
professed  a  deep  interest  in  the  published 
reminiscences  of  Messrs.  Hardscrabble, 
Doonothing,  and  Rungdown,  each  one  of 
whom,  by  the  way,  possessed  the  fatal 
" old-time"  gift  of  never  remembering 
anything  that  was  of  the  slightest  con- 
sequence to  anybody. 
17*  261 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

The  only  ones  who  criticized  the  new 
journal  were  Joe  Whitcomb  and  Mr.  Free- 
lance, and  they  were  both  outspoken  in 
condemning  nearly  everything  that  it 
contained. 

"The  paper  is  amateurish — and  even 
worse  than  amateurish — from  cover  to 
cover,"  said  Freelance,  contemptuously. 
"  You  've  let  those  doddering  old  fools  fill 
the  whole  thing  up  with  their  recollections 
of  bar-rooms  and  things  that  happened 
before  the  war.  The  trouble  is,  you  think 
that  anybody  who  can  make  marks  on 
paper  with  a  pen  is  capable  of  writing  an 
interesting  article.  If  your  tooth  ached 
you  would  n't  ask  Judge  Doonothing  to 
pull  it  out,  would  you  ?  If  you  wanted  a 
new  overcoat  you  would  get  a  tailor  to 
make  it.  You  would  n't  be  seen  on  Broad- 
way with  a  garment  cut  and  made  by  old 
Rungdown,  would  you  ?  But  you  let  them 
write  all  your  paper  through,  and  a  pretty 
mess  they  've  made  of  it.  Let  me  tell  you, 

262 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 
my  young  friend,  that  writing,  either  for 
newspapers  or  magazines,  is  a  profession, 
and  a  very  difficult  one,  too.  It  takes  a 
great  deal  longer  to  learn  how  to  write 
than  it  does  to  learn  how  to  cut  clothes  or 
pull  teeth ;  and,  moreover,  there  are  people 
in  this  town  who  could  n't  learn  to  write 
if  they  were  to  work  at  it  for  twenty  years. 
Judge  Doonothing  is  one  of  that  class,  and 
Rungdown  is  another.  You  take  my  ad- 
vice and  fire  those  old  stuffs  out  of  your 
office.  Then  employ  men  who  make  their 
living  by  writing  to  take  their  place,  and 
at  least  you  '11  have  a  paper  that  won't  be 
a  disgrace  to  your  name." 

"  Well,  is  n't  that '  Up  and  Down  Broad- 
way '  column  all  right  ?  I  'm  sure  it 's  all 
good,  timely  matter — "  began  Dolly,  but 
the  other  interrupted  him. 

"  Timely !     Yes,  it 's  about  as  timely  a 

collection  of  puffs  as  I  ever  saw  in  my  lif  e. 

That 's  a  pleasant  reference  to  '  Socks  the 

popular  hatter/  and  a  very  timely  one, 

263 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

too,  for  somebody.  Then  there  '&  a  snappy 
paragraph  about  'Major  Rickey,  the  genial 
compounder  of  sours  and  cocktails,  whose 
cheery  face,  bright  smile,  and  glorious 
handshake' — in  other  words,  somebody  is 
getting  credit  in  a  bar-room  by  means  of 
your  paper.  You  ought  not  to  allow  any 
one  to  be  puffed  in  your  paper  without 
your  special  permission.  Make  fun  of 
everybody  and  everything  in  the  town, 
and  the  High  Roller  will  gain  a  circulation. 
Fill  it  full  of  these  pleasant  references  to 
dealers  in  cocktails,  theater  tickets,  hats, 
and  other  light  commodities,  and  you  '11 
drop  every  dollar  you  put  into  it  and  be 
laughed  at  by  the  very  people  you  've 
been  puffing." 

"Is  there  anything  in  the  paper  that 
pleases  you  ? "  inquired  Dolly,  with  mock 
humility. 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  other  as  he  turned 
over  the  leaves;  "I  don't  see  anything 
from  the  pen  of  General  Whiffletree.  How 
264 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

did  you  come  to  neglect  him  ?  I  'm  sure 
he  ought  to  write  extremely  well  by  this 
time — he  's  had  such  a  fine  training  for 
a  literary  career." 

"  The  fact  is,"  said  Dillenbeck,  with  a 
little  hesitation,  "the  General  and  I 
have  n't  been  as  friendly  lately  as  we 
used  to,  and  he  has  n't  sent  in  anything 

yet—" 

"  Well,  don't  let  him ;  and  if  you  've 
quarreled  with  him  accept  my  congratula- 
tions and  be  careful  not  to  make  up  with 
him." 

Dolly's  heart  was  touched  whenever  he 
thought  of  his  old  friend,  to  whom  he  had 
not  spoken  since  the  occasion  of  their  fall- 
ing out  in  the  cafe,  to  which  due  promi- 
nence has  already  been  given  in  these 
pages.  From  the  moment  of  the  humili- 
ation to  which  he  had  been  subjected  by 
the  young  man  whom,  as  he  tearfully  de- 
clared, he  had  "  adopted  and  treated  like 
a  son,"  the  General  had  scarcely  been  seen 

265 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

in  his  old  haunts,  and  how  he  contrived 
to  live  now  that  he  had  lost  his  principal 
source  of  revenue  was  a  question  that  was 
asked  a  great  many  times  a  day  by  those 
who  were  familiar  with  his  career. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

MR.  FREELANCE  had  gone  to  Canada  on 
a  fishing-trip,  Dolly  was  spending  Sunday 
out  of  town,  and  Maude  Wheatleigh  was 
walking  slowly  up  Broadway,  wishing 
that  she  had  some  one  to  talk  to.  It  was 
a  bright,  clear  morning,  just  cool  enough 
to  make  walking  on  the  shady  side  of  the 
street  a  pleasant  exercise ;  and  our  heroine 
had  just  made  up  her  mind  to  go  up  to 
Central  Park  and  spend  an  hour  under  the 
trees,  when  a  tall,  well-built  young  man, 
with  a  very  brown  face,  stepped  directly 
in  front  of  her  and  took  off  his  hat. 

"  Grood  gracious,  Billy,  I  am  glad  to  see 

you!     When  did  you  get  back?"  cried 

Maude,  wringing  his  hand  with  so  much 

vehemence  that  one  or  two  passers-by 

267 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

turned  to  look  at  her,  and  Mr.  Freelance 
said: 

"Walk  down  the  street  with  me  a 
moment,  for  I  Ve  got  an  invitation  for 
you  for  to-night.  How  would  you  like 
to  go  to  an  elegant  society  reception? 
We  're  both  of  us  invited,  and  if  you 
want  to  go  I  '11  call  for  you." 

"  A  reception !  "  cried  Maude,  delighted 
at  the  thought  of  having  some  part,  no 
matter  how  slight,  in  the  social  life  of  the 
town.  From  the  period  of  her  appren- 
ticeship in  Miss  Thimbleton's  dressmak- 
ing-shop in  Maplefield  she  had  cherished 
in  her  secret  heart  a  dream  of  social  tri- 
umphs— a  dream  which  had  grown  more 
distinct  as  she  learned  more  of  the  world, 
and  which  had  been  fed  and  pampered 
by  constant  reading  of  the  society  columns 
in  the  daily  newspapers.  Well  as  he 
knew,  or  thought  he  knew,  the  brilliant 
young  actress,  Mr.  Freelance  would  have 
been  amazed  if  he  could  have  known 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

how  familiar  Maude  was  with  the  mem- 
bers of  the  principal  families  of  the  city. 
She  had  taken  many  a  long  solitary  walk 
for  the  purpose  of  gazing  at  the  great 
houses  in  which  famous  balls  and  dinners 
were  given.  She  had  kept  track  of  all  the 
marriages,  divorces,  and  deaths  that  had 
served  to  heighten  or  disturb  or  interrupt 
the  social  pageant  of  the  town,  so  that  at 
this  point  in  her  career  she  was  thoroughly 
well  qualified  to  join  in  an  intimate  con- 
versation with  the  most  distinguished 
leaders  of  fashion  without  running  the 
risk  of  treading  on  any  sacredly  guarded 
toes,  or  by  some  maladroit  remark  letting 
any  dreaded  family  skeleton  loose  upon 
the  company. 

Her  artistic  ambition  was  a  high  one, 
but  it  was  feeble  in  comparison  with  the 
intense  yearning  for  a  foothold  in  the 
splendid  world  of  fashion  that  had  grown 
within  her  till  she  felt  that  it  must  be  sat- 
isfied by  some  sort  of  a  realization. 

269 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Perhaps  the  opportunity  had  come  to 
her  at  last.  "  Who  could  have  sent  me  an 
invitation  to  a  reception  ? "  she  inquired, 
trying  to  hide  her  eagerness  from  the 
keen  perceptions  of  the  manager. 

"Guess!" 

"  How  can  I  guess,  Billy  ?  It  must  be 
some  friend  of  yours,  for  /  don't  know 
anybody  likely  to  give  a  reception — " 

"  Oh  yes,  you  do.  It 's  an  old  friend 
of  yours — Pearl  Livingstone  by  name. 
I  met  her  on  Broadway  to-day,  and  she 
was  as  sweet  and  cordial  as  it 's  possible 
for  a  woman  to  be.  She  fairly  took  my 
breath  away  with  her  politeness." 

"  You  Ve  certainly  taken  away  mine," 
rejoined  Maude;  "but  do  tell  me  how 
she  came  to  ask  us,  and  particularly  me, 
to  a  reception." 

"Well,  my  own  opinion  is  that  she 
wants  to  play  with  Hustle  &  Hardup 
again,  or  it  may  be  that  she  would  like  to 
be  on  good  terms  with  me  for  some  reason 

270 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

or  other — you  can  bet  she  wants  some- 
thing or  she  would  n't  take  the  trouble  to 
be  civil ;  but  at  any  rate  she  stopped  me 
on  Broadway  and  asked  about  you,  and 
wound  up  by  saying  that  she  had  invited 
two  or  three  friends — her '  society  friends/ 
she  said — to  her  flat  to-night,  and  she 
hoped  I  'd  come  and  bring  you  with  me. 
Would  you  like  to  go  ? " 

"Of  course  I  would,"  replied  Maude, 
eagerly.  "  What  dress  shall  I  wear  ? " 

Her  heart  was  glad  at  the  prospect  of 
meeting  some  real  "  society  people  "  of  the 
sort  that  her  professional  associates  were 
always  talking  about,  and  of  whose  com- 
ings and  goings  she  was  wont  to  read 
with  so  much  avidity  on  Sunday  morn- 
ings the  very  first  thing  after  her  regular 
hunt  through  the  dramatic  columns  for 
paragraphs  about  herself.  In  spite  of  her 
manager's  sneering  remarks  about  Miss 
Livingstone's  social  pretensions  she  firmly 
believed  that  the  apartment  occupied  by 
271 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

that  actress  during  those  periods  of  time 
which  she  spent  in  New  York  was  really 
the  favorite  resort  of  men  and  women  emi- 
nent in  the  social  world,  as  well  as  those 
who  had  won  distinction  in  art — dra- 
matic, plastic,  and  pictorial — and  letters. 

"What  do  you  think  I  had  better 
wear?"  she  repeated,  anxiously.  "If  I 
had  time  I  'd  have  something  handsome 
made  expressly  for  the  occasion,  for  I 
don't  think  1 7ve  got  a  single  evening 
dress  that  's  fit  to  be  seen." 

"  Evening  dress !  "  exclaimed  Freelance, 
awaking  from  his  dreams.  "  You  're  not 
going  to  a  ball  at  Delmonico's,  but  to 
Pearl  Livingstone's  flat,  and  any  dress 
you  Ve  got  will  answer.  She  '11  probably 
receive  her  friends  in  that  wrapper  that 
we  used  to  be  so  f  amiliar  with.  As  it 's 
more  than  likely  that  I  '11  be  sent  out 
for  a  pitcher  of  beer  in  the  course  of  the 
elegant  festivities,  I  think  I  '11  wear  the 
clothes  I  've  got  on  now." 
272 


DOLLT  DILLENBECK 

"  You  '11  wear  a  dress-suit  if  you  go 
with  me/'  retorted  Maude.  "  Aud  for  all 
you  say  about  Pearl  Livingstone,  she  does 
know  some  real  nice  people,  and  they  're 
liable  to  be  at  her  flat  to-night,  so  we 
might  just  as  well  be  prepared  for  them. 
I  shall  wear  the  prettiest  gown  I  have,  I 
can  tell  you  that." 

"  Well,  I  must  be  off,  for  that  man  on 
the  corner  there  is  waiting  to  see  me 
about  the  lithographs,"  said  Mr.  Free- 
lance, holding  out  his  hand.  "  I  '11  call 
for  you  a  little  before  nine." 

"Wait  a  moment,  Billy,"  said  the  ac- 
tress, with  a  slight  embarrassment  of  man- 
ner ;  "  there  's  something  I  want  to  tell 
you—" 

"  You  can  tell  me  to-night,"  replied  the 
other,  hastily.  "  I  can't  stop  a  moment 
now." 

"  Very  well,  then ;  but  remember,  when 
you  come  up  to-night  don't  send  up  your 
card,  but  come  into  the  ladies'  reception- 
is  273 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

room  on  the  ground  floor  and  you  '11  find 
me  there." 

Freelance  walked  hurriedly  away,  and 
Maude  resumed  her  stroll,  apparently  en- 
grossed in  anxious  thought.  "I  think 
I  '11  not  tell  him  until  after  the  reception," 
she  said  to  herself  at  last. 


274 


CHAPTER  XIX 

AT  nine  o'clock  that  evening  Miss 
Maude  Wheatleigh,  escorted  by  Mr.  Free- 
lance, was  welcomed  graciously  by  Miss 
Pearl  Livingstone  at  the  threshold  of  the 
apartment  in  which,  according  to  all  trust- 
worthy accounts,  that  favorite  emotional 
actress  delighted  to  entertain  her  many 
wealthy  and  distinguished  friends.  It  is  a 
curious  and  noteworthy  fact  that  although 
Miss  Livingstone  is  socially  unknown  in 
New  York,  she  nevertheless  enjoys  a  high 
reputation  in  remote  portions  of  the  coun- 
try as  an  actress  whose  profession  has 
proved  no  bar  to  her  social  progress. 
The  whole  world,  or  at  least  that  part  of 
it  which  lies  to  the  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, has  read  of  the  brilliant  gatherings 
275 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

that  have  made  her  artistic  home  the  favor- 
ite meeting-place  of  artists,  millionaires, 
statesmen,  and  poets,  who,  by  the  way,  are 
famous  for  their  affinity  to  one  another. 
That  Miss  Livingstone  had  won  for  herself 
such  an  enviable  position  in  the  eyes  of 
the  polite  world  was  generally  attributed 
to  her  own  exemplary  life ;  but  the  credit 
really  belonged  to  Mr.  Freelance,  who  had 
acted  as  her  press-agent  during  the  early 
period  of  her  career. 

Maude's  first  feeling  on  entering  the 
room,  of  which  she  had  read  innumerable 
descriptions,  was  one  of  blank  disappoint- 
ment, which  her  hostess  may  have  noticed, 
for  she  hastened  to  remark  that  she  was 
really  in  no  state  to  receive  visitors,  as 
her  rooms  were  all  in  disorder,  and  most 
of  her  articles  of  furniture  and  adornment 
at  the  storage  warehouse. 

Miss  Livingstone  was  attired  in  a  loose 
gown  of  light  blue,  and  wore  several 
pieces  of  jewelry  that  flashed  and  sparkled 

276 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

in  the  gaslight.  She  had  been  engaged 
in  conversation  with  a  gentleman  of  spare 
build,  whose  eyes  were  dark  and  piercing, 
and  whose  clean-shaved  face  betrayed  his 
calling. 

"Let  me  make  you  acquainted  with 
Mr.  Radcliffe,  who  is  going  out  with  me 
next  season,"  said  Miss  Livingstone,  after 
she  had  greeted  her  guests ;  and  the  actor 
bowed  and  said  he  was  pleased  to  meet 
them  both. 

Maude  seated  herself  in  a  rocking-chair 
by  the  window  and  glanced  about  her. 
The  furniture  seemed  to  have  undergone 
some  hard  usage  since  its  purchase  in  one 
of  the  great  marts  on  Fourteenth  Street, 
but  it  was  apparent  to  her  that  it  must 
have  been  at  one  time  tawdry  enough  to 
suit  the  most  pronounced  theatrical  taste. 
In  the  rear  of  the  parlor  in  which  they  sat 
was  a  sort  of  alcove,  partially  screened  by 
means  of  a  heavy,  striped  curtain  of  the 
kind  termed  a  "portiere"  in  decorative 

18*  277 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

parlance ;  and  this  seemed  to  be  kept  in 
place  by  four  of  the  dozen  brass  rings  with 
which  it  had  originally  been  fastened  to 
the  rod  of  dark  polished  wood  overhead. 

Maude  looked  in  vain  for  the  "  rare  en- 
gravings, "  "  choice  etchings,"  and  the  rest 
of  the  artistic  paraphernalia  that  figured 
in  every  description  that  had  ever  been 
published  of  the  actress's  New  York  home ; 
but  the  only  pictures  that  met  her  gaze 
were  half  a  dozen  photographs  of  Miss 
Livingstone  herself  in  various  hysterical 
attitudes,  which  were  conspicuously  dis- 
played on  the  walls  and  mantelpiece. 

The  room,  however,  was  not  without 
its  artistic  significance.  Several  mad  at- 
tempts at  decoration  revealed  themselves 
in  the  bow  of  blue  ribbon  attached  to  the 
back  of  a  decrepit  chair,  and  perhaps  in- 
tended to  serve  as  a  danger-signal ;  in  the 
china  plates,  embellished  with  impossible 
landscapes  in  pink  and  blue,  and  fastened 
to  the  walls  with  brass  clamps;  in  the 

278 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

bunch  of  forlorn  swamp  cattails  that 
nodded  their  dusty  heads  above  the  man- 
telpiece; and  in  the  broken  circle  of 
Japanese  fans  pinned  around  the  base  of 
the  chandelier.  Half  a  dozen  of  these  fans 
had  fallen  or  been  pulled  down, — Miss 
Livingstone  was  holding  one  in  her  hand, 
— and  the  rest  presented  a  bedraggled 
and  fly-specked  appearance  that  was  more 
likely  to  awaken  the  pity  of  the  beholder 
than  to  convey  an  impression  of  artistic 


There  was  one  ornament,  however, 
which  attracted  Maude's  attention  so  that 
she  left  her  seat  presently  to  examine  it 
more  closely ;  and  that  was  a  photograph, 
in  a  gaudy  frame  of  red  plush  and  gilt,  that 
stood  on  the  upright  piano  and  which 
she  saw  Mr.  Freelance  regarding  with  a 
look  of  amusement  on  his  face.  The  pic- 
ture was  that  of  a  man  of  about  thirty- 
five,  with  features  of  an  unmistakably 
Hebraic  type,  crisp,  curly  hair,  parted  in 
279 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  middle  with  as  much  precision  as  if  it 
had  been  a  geometrical  problem,  a  pointed 
mustache,  and  a  scarf-pin  containing 
what  looked  like  costly  jewels. 

Maude  was  still  examining  the  photo- 
graph when  the  door  opened  and  admitted 
Miss  Mabel  Morris,  in  her  usual  efferves- 
cence of  good  spirits,  and  a  young  man 
who  carried  a  roll  of  music  and  a  banjo 
in  a  cloth  bag,  and  was  distinctly  "pro- 
fessional" in  looks,  manner,  and  speech. 
Miss  Morris  greeted  both  ladies  with  effu- 
sive warmth,  and  smiled  knowingly  at 
Maude  as  they  both  recalled  the  memo- 
rable squabble  at  the  card-table  on  that 
Sunday  morning  that  seemed,  to  one  of 
them  at  least,  to  belong  to  the  years  long 
gone  by. 

The  young  gentleman  with  the  banjo 
appeared  to  be  on  terms  of  pleasant  inti- 
macy with  the  company,  for  he  addressed 
his  hostess  as  Pauline  and  Mr.  Radcliffe  as 
Mercutio,  and  merrily  felicitated  Mr.  Free- 
280 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

lance  on  the  happy  tide  of  circumstances 
which  had  enabled  him  to  appear  in  his 
own  dress-suit  and  with  his  own  studs  in 
a  shirt  with  collars  and  cuffs  attached, 
and  all  on  the  same  evening. 

Miss  Livingstone  giggled  audibly  at  the 
funny  remarks  of  the  newcomer,  and  then 
told  him  to  stop  his  fooling  and  be  intro- 
duced to  Miss  Wheatleigh. 

"This  is  Mr.  Slocum,"  she  said,  turn- 
ing to  Maude,  and  then  Mabel  chimed  in : 
"You  may  not  know  it,  Charley,  but  Miss 
Wheatleigh  is  an  actress,  and  acts  right 
out  on  the  stage  every  night  and  at  the  Sat- 
urday matinee.  What 's  more,  she  7s  just 
made  a  grand  success,  and  is  going  out 
at  the  head  of  her  own  company  this  fall. 
She  may  have  a  place  for  you  if  you  show 
her  that  you  know  your  business." 

Mr.  Slocum  saluted  Miss  Wheatleigh 
with  a  very  low  and  respectful  bow,  then 
gravely  removed  some  of  the  furniture 
from  the  middle  of  the  room  and  did  a 

281 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"back-fall"  of  such  an  irresistibly  droll 
nature  that  all  the  guests  screamed  with 
laughter,  and  the  actor  diffidently  re- 
marked that  his  turn  usually  went  better 
at  matinees  and  at  holidays  than  in  the 
evening,  whereat  Miss  Livingstone  broke 
out  into  renewed  laughter  and  declared 
that  Charley  was  the  most  ridiculous  man 
she  had  ever  known  in  her  life,  and  she 
did  wish  he  would  learn  to  behave  when 
there  were  ladies  around. 

Philosophers  who  have  been  enabled, 
by  virtue  of  frequent  opportunity  and 
their  own  gifts  of  discernment,  to  study 
the  feminine  character  with  a  degree  of 
thoroughness  that  commands  my  envy 
and  respect  declare  that  a  woman  who 
does  not  wear  her  heart  on  her  sleeve, 
who  has  perhaps  reached  maturity  with 
her  affections  unscarred  by  the  darts  of 
Cupid,  is  apt  to  love,  if  she  loves  at  all, 
with  far  more  intensity  than  a  woman  of 
normal  traits  and  the  usual  capacity  for 
282 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

affection.  According  to  these  thinkers  she 
is  also  likely  to  select  a  much  less  worthy 
object  for  her  regard. 

This  may  or  may  not  be  true — person- 
ally I  have  very  little  faith  in  the  studies 
made  of  women  by  men;  but  it  is  un- 
doubtedly a  fact  that  a  woman  whose 
capacity  for  the  enjoyment  of  humor  is 
limited,  and  whose  face  is  habitually  cast 
in  a  serious  mold,  will  usually  fall  a  vic- 
tim— I  mean  in  the  laughing  sense — to 
some  funny  man  whose  humorous  meth- 
ods are  of  the  primitive  and  broadly  acro- 
batic type  which  I  have  tried  to  indicate 
in  describing  Mr.  Slocum.  Miss  Living- 
stone was  distinctly  lacking  in  the  humor- 
ous sense,  as  nearly  all  egoists  and  egotists 
are.  It  would  have  been  impossible  for 
her  to  have  discovered  anything  funny  in 
the  published  writings  of  Sterne  or  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes ;  but  when  Mr.  Slocum 
turned  a  handspring  or  repeated  the  hack- 
neyed facetiae  of  his  calling  she  found  it 

283 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

simply  impossible  to  control  her  merri- 
ment. 

On  the  other  hand,  Miss  Wheatleigh 
possessed  a  really  keen  sense  of  humor — 
a  quality,  by  the  way,  which  is  not  nearly 
so  rare  in  her  sex  as  certain  philosophical 
students  of  womankind  would  have  us 
believe.  Women  are  not  usually  creators 
of  humor,  but  their  appreciation  must  be 
very  keen,  for  they  not  only  laugh  im- 
moderately at  genuine  wit,  but  also  derive 
great  enjoyment  from  plays  and  books  in 
which  I,  for  example,  can  find  no  sort  of 
fun.  Miss  Wheatleigh's  sense  of  humor 
had  been  greatly  developed  by  her  inti- 
mate association  with  Mr.  Freelance,  and 
although  the  actor's  buffoonery  did  not 
seem  to  her  particularly  comical,  she  could 
not  help  laughing  heartily  at  the  spectacle 
of  the  usually  dull  and  serious-minded  Liv- 
ingstone bursting  with  uncontrolled  and 
hysterical  mirth.  Mr.  Freelance  seemed  to 
think  it  funny  too,  and  they  both  roared 

284 


DOLLT  DILLENBECK 

so  heartily  that  Mr.  Slocum  knew  that  he 
had  made  a  great  hit,  and  determined  to 
name  seventy-five  dollars  a  week  as  the 
price  of  his  professional  services. 

Maude  seated  herself  beside  her  hostess, 
and  the  two  were  soon  in  the  midst  of  a 
conversation  that  was  to  all  appearances 
affectionate  and  intimate. 

"  I  expected  some  of  my  society  friends 
this  evening/'  said  Miss  Livingstone,  in 
low,  confidential  tones,  "but  just  before 
you  came  in  I  got  a  note  from  Mrs.  Judge 
Cauliflower  saying  that  she  was  unavoid- 
ably detained.  It 's  really  too  bad,  for  I 
would  be  pleased  to  have  you  meet  her. 
You  Ve  heard  of  Mrs.  Cauliflower,  of 
course  ? " 

"No,  I  don't  think  I  have,"  replied 
Maude,  wondering  how  such  a  name 
could  have  escaped  her  in  her  diligent 
studies  of  New  York  society  as  reflected 
in  the  Sunday  newspapers. 

"  No  ? "  resumed  Miss  Livingstone,  with 
285 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

a  note  in  her  voice  that  meant:  "To  be 
sure  you  have  n't.  How  stupid  of  me  to 
forget  that  you  never  had  the  opportunity 
to  meet  people  like  the  Cauliflowers ! " 
Then  she  continued  aloud :  "  Well,  Lydia 
is  a  dear  good  girl,  and  if  she  was  n't  so 
continually  wrapped  up  in  society  I  would 
see  more  of  her  than  I  do.  But,  really,  I 
have  very  little  taste  for  balls  and  dinner- 
parties and  all  that  goes  to  make  up  the 
life  of  a  society  woman  nowadays.  This 
is  where  I  find  rest  and  enjoyment,  Miss 
Wheatleigh,  when  I  am  not  working — 
I  should  say  practising  my  profession. 
At  one  time  I  went  out  a  great  deal,  and 
used  to  meet  hundreds  of  people  whose 
names  I  could  scarcely  recall  when  I  saw 
them.  Now  I  have  a  few  warm  friends, 
many  of  whom  are  sought  after  constantly 
by  the  proudest  in  the  land.  Every  door, 
even  the  most  exclusive,  is  thrown  open 
to  them,  and  yet  they  seem  to  find  some- 
tiling  in  this  little  home  of  mine  that  is 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

lacking  in  the  grander  palaces  that  they 
visit.  You  ought  to  have  seen  the  cos- 
tume Mrs.  Cauliflower  wore  at  the  Pales- 
tine Commandery  ball  last  winter ;  every 
reporter  gave  a  full  description  of  it. 
But,  after  all,  I  care  more  for  literature 
and  art  than  for  the  gay  whirl  of  society. 
I  do  all  my  writing  at  that  desk  by  the 
window,  and  sometimes  I  am  glad  to  be 
alone,  so  that  I  can  bury  myself  in  my 
books.  With  a  favorite  author  in  my  lap 
lean—" 

"  There  's  a  terrible  drought  here  this 
evening,  Pauline,"  interrupted  Mr.  Slocum 
at  this  moment.  "  Here 's  Mabel  with  her 
tongue  hanging  out,  and  I  'm  afraid  Free- 
lance is  suffering  pain." 

"  Somehow  you  always  bring  a  fearful 
dusty  throat  with  you  when  you  go  out 
for  an  evening,"  said  the  hostess,  seem- 
ingly annoyed  at  this  premature  call  for 
refreshments.  "Well,  just  open  the  ice- 
chest  in  the  next  room  and  get  out  the 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

beer;  or  perhaps  you  want  whisky? 
You  'd  better  ask  these  ladies  what 
they  '11  have,  too,  while  you  're  about  it." 

Mr.  Slocum  made  his  way  to  the  spot  in 
the  back  part  of  the  flat  where  the  refresh- 
ments were  cached  with  a  speed  born  of 
much  practice  and  long  familiarity,  and 
returned  bearing  half  a  dozen  bottles, 
from  which  he  dispensed  good  cheer  with 
considerable  native  humor.  At  the  same 
time  he  disseminated  agreeable  rumors 
in  regard  to  a  collation  which  he  said  the 
servant  was  preparing  in  the  kitchen. 

"  You  were  just  saying  something  about 
books,"  remarked  Maude,  demurely,  as 
soon  as  the  tumult  incident  to  the  serv- 
ing of  the  refreshments  had  subsided. 
Freelance  heard  her  remark — she  had 
intended  that  he  should — and  pricked 
up  his  ears.  "  I  remember  that  you  used 
to  be  a  great  reader,  and  I  have  often  seen 
newspaper  articles  about  your  library.  Is 
it  here?" 

288 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"  Oh  dear,  no,"  rejoined  the  actress,  has- 
tily. "  I  would  n't  dare  keep  my  books 
and  pictures  here ;  and,  besides,  I  'm  not 
half  settled  yet.  They  're  all  at  the  safe- 
deposit  storage  warehouse;  that  is,  all 
but  a  few  of  my  favorites."  As  she  said 
this  she  turned  to  a  table  beside  her  and 
took  from  it  the  scrap-book  which  was 
her  constant  companion  in  all  her  travels, 
and  the  celebrated  "  Garland  of  Gems,"  to 
which  allusion  has  already  been  made  in 
these  pages. 

Mr.  Freelance  smiled  broadly  as  his  eyes 
fell  upon  the  familiar  volume,  and  Miss 
Livingstone,  all  unconscious  of  the  fact 
that  she  was  furnishing  entertainment  to 
at  least  two  of  her  guests,  continued :  "  It 
was  Mrs.  Judge  Cauliflower  who  gave  me 
this  work.  You  know  she  has  great  lit- 
erary taste  and  reads  all  the  principal 
authors.  I  went  to  dinner  at  her  house 
one  night,  and  you  ought  to  see  the  style 
she  puts  on.  Why,  she  keeps  two  butlers 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  year  round,  and  you  never  see  her  at 
any  time  of  the  day  without  diamonds  in 
her  ears — " 

Miss  Livingstone  was  evidently  on  the 
point  of  making  further  revelations  indic- 
ative of  the  refinement  and  good  breeding 
of  Judge  Cauliflower's  attractive  spouse, 
but  just  at  this  moment  there  was  a 
knock  at  the  door,  and  the  hostess  rose 
to  welcome  her  friend,  Mr.  Pointdexter, 
who  was,  as  she  subsequently  whispered 
to  Miss  Wheatleigh,  "  one  of  the  principal 
members  of  the  four  hundred." 

Mr.  Pointdexter,  who  was  a  young  man 
of  excessively  clean  and  rosy  appearance, 
entered  the  room  with  considerable  diffi- 
dence, and  did  not  seem  to  be  quite  sure 
whether  he  should  take  immediate  flight 
or  remain  permanently.  He  was  attired 
in  evening  dress,  and  had  provided  himself 
with  so  many  accessories  and  embellish- 
ments in  the  way  of  gloves,  studs,  rings, 
key-chain,  watch-chain,  cape-coat,  silk  hat, 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

and  patent-leather  shoes  that  Mr.  Radcliffe 
and  Mr.  Slocum  looked  upon  him  with  a 
respect  that  was  tempered  by  keen  envy. 

"  If  I  had  such  a  dude  make-up  as  that 
I  could  act,"  said  Mr.  Radcliffe  to  himself, 
with  some  bitterness ;  for  he  was  billed  to 
play  Gerald  Vasavour  in  "  Fifth  Avenue's 
Darling,"  and  the  question  of  an  appropri- 
ate wardrobe  was  looming  up  ominously 
on  the  horizon  of  his  thoughts. 

It  was  probably  the  first  time  that  Mr. 
Pointdexter  had  ever  found  himself  in 
the  company  of  so  ;many  members  of  the 
theatrical  calling,  and  this  close  contact 
with  genius  had  the  effect  of  increasing 
his  natural  diffidence  and  nervousness. 
Mabel  Morris  watched  him  as  he  sat  gaz- 
ing with  round-eyed  wonder  upon  the 
guests,  and  uttered  a  silent  prayer. 

"  How  soon  are  you  going  to  favor  us 
again  with  one  of  your  fine  performances, 
Miss  Livingstone  ? "  inquired  the  new  ar- 
rival, in  a  low  voice. 
291 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

11 1  expect  to  be  at  the  Jollity  Theater 
October  29th  in  a  new  piece,  and  I  hope 
you  will  be  on  hand  the  first  night  and 
come  back  and  tell  me  what  you  think  of 
it,"  replied  Miss  Livingstone,  with  one  of 
her  most  amiable  smiles. 

"A  new  play!  Why,  I  am  sure  you 
will  never  get  anything  better  than '  Only 
a  Perfect  Lady.'  Do  you  know,  we  were 
talking  about  you  up  at  the  club  last 
night,  and  we  all  thought  you  were  per- 
fectly charming  in  that." 

"Perhaps  Mr.  Pointdexter  will  join  us 
in  a  social  drink,"  remarked  Mr.  Slocum, 
who  wanted  one  himself,  rising  suddenly 
to  his  feet  and  taking  a  glass  and  bot- 
tle from  the  table.  The  newcomer  con- 
sented, after  considerable  protest,  to 
partake  of  a  small  and  weak  solution  of 
whisky  and  water.  The  others  poured 
out  their  libations  with  unsparing  hand, 
and  then  there  was  a  call  for  music. 

Mr.  Slocum  responded  at  once  to  the 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

call,  playing  his  own  accompaniment  on 
his  banjo,  and  singing  two  new  comic 
songs  of  unmistakable  British  music-hall 
origin.  He  was  glad  enough  to  have  a 
chance  to  display  his  accomplishments  in 
the  presence  of  Mr.  Freelance  and  Miss 
Wheatleigh,  both  of  whom  he  recognized 
as  persons  of  coming  importance  in  the 
theatrical  world. 

"Go  over  to  the  piano  and  sing  us 
something,  Billy,"  commanded  the  host- 
ess. "  You  711  find  plenty  of  music  there 
that  you  know,  and  it  is  a  good  while 
since  I  heard  you  troll." 

Mr.  Freelance  did  as  he  was  told,  and 
Maude  went  over  to  help  him  find  some 
songs.  His  eye  fell  upon  the  photograph 
in  the  plush  frame,  and  he  called  Maude's 
attention  to  it  and  said  in  a  low  whisper, 
"  That 's  an  otyet  Mart  that  you  will  find 
in  every  soubrette  flat  in  this  town." 

"Who  is  he,  and  what  does  he  do?" 
asked  the  other,  innocently, 
is*  293 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

11 1  don't  know  what  this  one's  name  is, 
but  I  rather  fancy  that  his  function  in  life 
is  to  pay  the  rent  of  this  flat,"  he  answered 
carelessly ;  "  and  what 's  more,  if  you  go 
back  to  the  time  of  Hogarth  you  '11  find 
that  there  were  chaps  of  this  sort  around 
then.  They  belonged  to  the  same  race,  too." 

"  Hello,  who 's  his  nibs  ? "  demanded  Mr. 
Slocum,  crossing  the  room  as  he  spoke, 
and  taking  the  portrait  from  Billy's  hands. 
"Is  that  the  original  Chakey  Einstein, 
Pauline?"  he  inquired. 

"  No,  sir,"  responded  the  hostess,  frigid- 
ly. "  That  is  a  gentleman  who  could  buy 
and  sell  you  two  or  three  times  over  with- 
out missing  it.  I  '11  thank  you  to  put 
that  photograph  back  where  you  got  it, 
Mr.  Slocum,  and  not  favor  us  with  any 
more  remarks  about  people  whom  you 
don't  know  and  probably  never  will." 

"  That  gentleman  has  known  me  ever 
since  I  was  knee-high,"  she  explained  to 
Mr.  Pointdexter,  who  was  seated  beside 
294 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

her.  "Maw  thinks  the  world  and  all  of 
1dm.  He  's  not  in  the  profession,  but  in 
a  big  business  down  on  Broadway.  He 's 
a  great  society  man,  and  a  famous  club 
man,  too.  He  belongs  to  the  Phenix 
Social  Club  and  all  those  gilt-edged  clubs, 
and  when  his  regiment  gives  a  ball  they 
always  put  him  on  the  floor  committee. 
You  ought  to  have  seen  him  at  the  one 
they  gave  last  year.  He  looked  perfectly 
grand.  I  can  remember  the  time  when  he 
used  to  dandle  me  on  his  knee." 

"  When  was  that  ?  Night  before  last  ? " 
inquired  Mr.  Slocum. 

"I  '11  thankyou  to  remember  thatyou  're 
in  the  company  of  ladies,  Mr.  Charley 
Slocum,"  cried  the  actress,  angrily.  "You 
need  n't  put  your  hands  up  behind  your 
ears  like  that !  My  friend  may  be  a  He- 
brew, but  if  he  is  he  's  a  dead  white  one, 
and  his  religion  does  n't  concern  either 
you  or  me.  He  's  a  great  spender,  too, 
and  that 's  more  than  you  are." 

295 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Miss  Livingstone  was  rapidly  becoming 
angry,  Mr.  Pointdexter  was  looking  very 
uncomfortable,  and  Mr.  Slocum  seemed  to 
be  meditating  still  more  exuberant  flights 
of  humor,  which  might  have  borne  unplea- 
sant results  had  not  Mabel  Morris  inter- 
fered so  peremptorily  that  the  comedian 
sat  down  in  a  corner,  while  Pearl,  with 
flushed  cheeks,  proceeded  to  entertain 
Mr.  Pointdexter  with  a  flood  of  anecdote 
relating  to  the  many  noble  traits  and 
generous  exploits  of  the  gentleman  whose 
photograph  stood  in  its  attractive  plush 
frame  on  the  piano. 

Very  soon  Mr.  Freelance  discovered 
among  the  tattered  and  well-pawed  relics 
of  Miss  Livingstone's  musical  career  some 
songs  that  he  knew.  He  sang  one  of 
them,  and  sang  it  very  well,  too,  as  even 
Mabel  Morris,  who  played  his  accompani- 
ments and  had  a  remarkably  quick  and 
keen  musical  ear,  admitted.  His  voice  was 
a  high,  clear  baritone,  of  the  kind  that  is 

296 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

usually  described  as  a  "tenor  robusto" 
when  its  possessor  happens  to  sing  in 
grand  opera,  and  is  known  as  a  "pure 
tenor,  of  great  strength  and  sweetness," 
when  it  belongs  to  the  principal  member 
of  a  comic-opera  company.  It  was  not 
often  that  Mr.  Freelance  consented  to  sing, 
and  to-night  Maude  was  surprised  at  a  cer- 
tain sympathetic,  touching  quality  in  his 
voice  which  she  had  never  noticed  before, 
and  which  brought  tears  to  her  eyes  as 
she  listened.  She  wiped  her  eyes  hastily, 
and  was  conscious  the  next  moment  that 
the  singer  had  observed  her  action. 

Mr.  Freelance's  music  was  received  with 
so  much  genuine  enthusiasm  that  he  prob- 
ably would  have  been  asked  to  sing  again 
had  not  the  appearance  of  the  servant  with 
a  large  tray  of  refreshments  turned  the 
thoughts  of  the  guests  into  another  chan- 
nel. There  was  a  very  nice  lobster  salad 
prepared  by  the  hostess  herself,  crackers 
and  cheese,  beer,  whisky,  ginger-ale,  sy- 
297 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

plions  of  carbonated  waters,  and  ciga- 
rettes; and  all  went  even  merrier  than 
the  average  marriage-bell  until  they  had 
reached  a  late  stage  of  the  repast.  Then 
the  hostess,  who  had  been  patiently  biding 
her  time,  turned  to  Mr.  Freelance,  who  sat 
at  her  left  hand,  and  said :  "  And  so  Miss 
Wheatleigh  is  really  married  to  young 
Mr.  Dillenbeck  after  all  ?  I  have  n't  had 
the  heart  to  speak  to  the  poor  girl  about 
it,  because — well,  we  all  know  she  has 
acted  rather  foolishly,  and  now  he  's  run 
through  all  his  money  and  can't  do  any- 
thing more  for  her.  I  heard  the  other 
day  "  (here  she  ostentatiously  lowered  her 
voice)  "that  he  was  beginning  to  act  a 
little  foolish.  Well,  really,  I  hope  it 's  not 
true,  for  her  sake.  But,  Billy,  I  always 
thought  you  were  mashed  on  her  your- 
self ;  you  ought  not  to  have  let  that  fel- 
low get  ahead  of  you !  " 

In  spite  of  all  his  efforts  to  sit  perfectly 
quiet  and  maintain  an  air  of  calm  indif- 

298 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

f  erence,  Billy  Freelance  winced  under  the 
words  of  the  emotional  actress — winced 
visibly,  too,  thereby  making  glad  her 
heart ;  for  she  had  waited  all  the  evening 
her  chance  to  tell  him  what  she  had  learned 
on  mere  hearsay  a  week  before.  Indeed, 
it  is  not  unlikely,  such  was  the  craft  and 
malevolence  of  the  woman,  that  she  had 
invited  them  both  to  her  rooms  that  night 
for  the  express  purpose  of  telling  him 
about  Maude  and  then  gloating  over  his 
misery. 

The  venom  of  the  serpent's  tooth  lurked 
beneath  Miss  Livingstone's  apparently 
simple  and  friendly  words.  Freelance 
had  often  imagined  that  his  star  would 
eventually  marry  the  man  to  whose  lib- 
erality she  was  indebted  for  the  great  op- 
portunity of  her  life,  and  this  belief  was 
materially  strengthened  by  his  knowledge 
of  the  fact  that  Dolly  had  still  another  for- 
tune — that  of  his  mother — to  spend.  But 
he  had  never  for  a  moment  suspected  that 
299 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  marriage  had  actually  taken  place,  and 
a  fierce  feeling  of  resentment  came  over 
him  at  the  thought  that  she  should  have 
taken  such  a  step  without  consulting  him. 

"And  so  that  was  why  she  seemed  to 
hesitate  this  morning  when  I  spoke  of 
coming  here,  and  that  was  what  she  was 
going  to  tell  me  ?  Well,  I  '11  not  give  her 
the  chance  to  tell  me ;  1 11  let  her  know 
that  I  heard  it  myself  first." 

Then  there  was  that  careless  reference 
to  Dillenbeck's  condition.  That  the  career 
of  extravagance  and  debauchery  followed 
by  that  foolish  young  man  had  seriously 
undermined  his  health,  as  well  as  his  for- 
tune, Mr.  Freelance  had  known  for  some 
time ;  but  that  the  meteoric  wine-opener 
was  growing  weak-minded  and  foolish  to 
a  degree  that  was  likely  to  attract  atten- 
tion before  long  was  a  piece  of  intelligence 
that  had  not  yet  reached  his  ears,  although 
he  himself  sometimes  feared  that  the  de- 
cay of  his  mind  had  actually  begun. 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

As  he  and  Maude  were  walking  home 
the  actress  remarked :  "  That  was  funny 
about  that  photograph.  I  thought  I 
should  die  laughing  when  she  tried  to 
tell  us  what  an  elegant  gentleman  her 
friend  was.  Is  there  really  some  Hebrew 
of  that  sort  enshrined  in  every  soubrette 
flat  in  the  city?" 

"No,"  rejoined  Mr.  Freelance,  with  a  sig- 
nificant look ;  "  I  Ve  heard  of  one  or  two 
flats  in  which  a  Christian  gentleman  has 
the  precious  privilege  of  paying  the  rent." 

The  contempt  expressed  in  the  young 
man's  voice  and  in  the  look  that  he  cast 
down  at  his  companion  made  her  almost 
writhe  with  chagrin  and  a  sense  of  degra- 
dation. She  should  have  told  him  of  the 
marriage  herself,  and  not  permitted  him 
to  learn  it  from  the  lips  of  that  spiteful 
woman.  What  would  become  of  her  now 
if  he  were  to  leave  her?  The  mimetic 
power  which,  in  her  peculiar  organization, 
had  been  developed  largely  at  the  expense 

301 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

of  heart  and  conscience  came  to  her  res- 
cue, and,  clasping  his  arm  with  both  her 
hands,  she  exclaimed,  in  a  voice  chok- 
ing with  emotion, — the  same  voice  which 
earned  her  a  recall  at  the  close  of  the  sec- 
ond act,  a  voice  which  she  hoped  would 
some  day  win  for  her  still  greater  renown 
than  she  had  ever  known  before, — "  Billy, 
for  God's  sake,  don't  talk  to  me  like  that ! 
Dolly  and  I  have  been  married  for  three 
weeks,  but  it  must  be  kept  a  secret.  I 
could  n't  help  it.  Believe  me,  Billy,  I 
could  not." 


CHAPTER  XX 

EVERYTHING  in  this  world  has  its  uses, 
and  the  "  secret  marriage  "  is  no  exception 
to  the  rule.  I  have  long  regarded  it  as  a 
most  admirable  institution — not  in  real 
life,  by  any  means,  but  as  a  convenient 
device  for  the  writers  of  romances.  What 
the  Humphry  Davy  safety-lamp  is  to  the 
miner,  the  clothes-wringer  to  the  house- 
keeper, the  "secret  marriage"  is  to  the 
novelist  or  story-teller.  It  can  be  made 
to  cover  a  multitude  of  sins.  Interposed 
between  a  risky  situation  and  the  pre- 
judices of  the  average  American  reader, 
it  is  frequently  the  very  salvation  of  a 
story.  It  is  the  life-boat  of  fiction;  but 
in  real  life  it  is  generally  deplorable  and 
inexcusable. 

303 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

These  remarks,  however,  do  not  apply 
to  the  secret  marriage  which  I  have  re- 
corded in  the  preceding  chapter.  That 
has  been  introduced  into  these  pages,  not 
as  an  expedient  or  as  a  sop  to  the  moralists, 
not  as  a  protection  from  the  slings  and 
arrows  of  outrageous  Philistinism,  but 
simply  and  solely  because  it  was  an  actual 
occurrence  in  the  lives  of  those  whose 
career  I  am  setting  forth. 

Maude  and  Dolly  were  united  in  a  legal 
and  binding  marriage  for  reasons  which 
are  simply  inexplicable  to  me,  the  chroni- 
cler of  their  various  mishaps  and  achieve- 
ments. I  do  not  know  why  they  chose  to 
keep  the  matter  a  secret,  any  more  than  I 
know  why  they  were  married  at  all.  I 
only  know  that  the  ceremony  was  per- 
formed by  a  duly  licensed  preacher,  and 
the  affair  managed  with  so  much  secrecy 
that  it  was  fully  two  weeks  before  news 
of  it  reached  the  ears  of  Miss  Pearl  Liv- 
ingstone; and  I  have  already  told  how 

304 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

malevolently  that  distinguished  actress 
made  use  of  her  knowledge.  She  had 
more  than  one  reason  for  wishing  to 
break  up  the  intimacy  between  Maude 
and  Freelance,  not  the  least  of  which  was 
her  desire  to  enlist  the  services  of  the 
latter  in  behalf  of  herself.  And  then  she 
had  found  it  much  easier  to  forgive  him 
for  the  part  he  had  taken  in  the  con- 
spiracy to  oust  her  from  the  Hustle 
&  Hardup  Company  than  to  forgive 
Maude  her  artistic  success  and  growing 
popularity. 

I  have  another  explanation  to  make  in 
this  chapter  of  apologies,  and  it  concerns 
the  style  of  conversation  in  which  many 
of  the  characters  in  this  story  express 
themselves.  My  readers  may  have  no- 
ticed that  the  language  employed  is  not 
always  what  one  would  term  Addisonian 
English,  and  I  am  afraid  that  the  impres- 
sion has  gained  ground  that  it  is  slang. 

This  is  a  mistake.  It  is  not  slang,  but 
20  305 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

dialect,  that  I  have  put  into  the  mouths 
of  Mr.  Freelance,  Miss  Livingstone,  and 
the  rest.  It  is  dialect,  and  I  earnestly 
hope  that  my  critics  and  readers  will  ac- 
cord to  it  the  respect  that  belongs  to  dia- 
lect, and  not  the  contumely  that  is  the  lot 
of  mere  slang. 

In  the  present  fertile  age  of  American 
letters  it  has  been  the  custom  to  apply 
the  term  "  dialect "  to  any  language  that 
intentionally  departs  from  pure  Anglo- 
Saxon,  provided  it  be  accredited  to  some 
region  that  lies  outside  the  limits  of 
New  York  City,  or,  to  be  more  exact, 
outside  the  limits  of  what  is  regarded  as 
civilized  New  York ;  for  there  is  dialect 
spoken  below  Eighth  Street  and  east  of 
Broadway.  In  the  Tenderloin  precinct, 
however,  nothing  is  used  but  slang. 

As  for  dialect,  it  may  be  recorded  by 
Mr.  Cable  as  indigenous  to  Louisiana,  or 
by  Miss  Wilkins  as  indigenous  to  Con- 
necticut, or  by  Mr.  Ralph  as  indigenous 
306 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

to  the  most  densely  populated  quarter  of 
the  town ;  in  either  case  it  is  dialect  pure 
and  simple,  and  as  such  entitled,  by  virtue 
of  the  approval  of  critics,  magazine  edi- 
tors, celebrated  short- story  writers,  and 
other  important  personages,  to  rank  di- 
rectly after  the  queen's  English,  even  as 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  takes  prec- 
edence of  everybody  but  royalty.  But 
as  for  poor,  common,  vulgar  slang,  as  it 
occurs  in  nearly  all  the  human  strata  that 
constitute  upper  Broadway,  it  is  a  mere 
city  knight,  an  ennobled  tradesman,  in  the 
great  aristocracy  of  speech. 

I  can  offer  but  one  excuse  for  putting 
so  much  of  this  dialect  of  the  town  into 
the  mouths  of  my  characters,  and  that  is 
that  it  is  in  precisely  such  words  and 
phrases  as  are  recorded  here  that  men  and 
women  of  the  sort  that  I  have  described 
are  in  the  habit  of  making  known  their 
wants  and  expressing  such  opinions  as 
may  find  lodgment  in  their  brains. 
307 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

There  are  perhaps  some  who  will  say, 
on  reading  this,  that  if  I  make  any  apol- 
ogy at  all  it  should  be  for  introducing  the 
characters  themselves  to  my  readers,  who, 
I  am  sure,  are  used  to  much  better  com- 
pany. Well,  so  am  I  used  to  much  better 
company  than  that  which  my  young  hero 
affects ;  but  it  is  his  story  that  I  am  tell- 
ing, not  my  own,  and  those  who  wish  to 
hear  it  must  necessarily  follow  its  central 
figure  into  the  sort  of  society  that  a  young 
man  of  inordinate  wealth  and  vanity, 
great  good  nature,  and  limited  intelli- 
gence would  be  apt  to  frequent  in  a  city 
which  has  not  yet  been  able  to  make 
room  for  a  decent  idle  class. 

I  do  not  need  to  be  reminded  of  the 
fact  that  there  are  in  New  York  thou- 
sands of  honorable,  high-minded,  and 
intelligent  men  and  women.  Indeed,  I 
would  gladly  introduce  a  few  of  them  to 
my  reader  if  for  no  other  purpose  than  to 
show  that  the  flash  life  of  the  saloon,  the 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

theater,  and  the  gambling-house  is  not 
the  best  that  the  metropolis  has  to  offer. 
Dolly  himself  might  have  known  some  of 
these  men  and  women,  and  perhaps  have 
married  some  nice  young  girl  belonging 
to  them,  and  settled  down  to  a  life  of 
colorless  ease.  But  he  preferred  the  gar- 
ish lights  of  Broadway,  the  meretricious 
glitter  of  the  stage,  and  the  flattery  of 
sycophants  to  anything  else  in  the  town, 
thus  making  this  story  possible. 

The  young  man  whose  career  Hogarth 
has  drawn  in  immortal  lines  had  tastes 
that  were  not  at  all  unlike  Dolly's,  al- 
though they  found  expression  in  a  coarser 
way,  as  became  a  coarser  age ;  and  alto- 
gether it  was  a  precious  company  to  which 
the  great  English  satirist  introduced  those 
who  have  watched  "  The  Rake's  Progress  " 
through  London  Town. 

It  was  this  similarity  between  the  two 
careers,  separated  by  a  century  and  a  half 
of  time,  that  greatly  impressed  Miss 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Wheatleigh  when  she  went  to  the  Astor 
Library,  a  few  days  after  the  reception  at 
Pearl  Livingstone's,  and  sat  down  with 
Hogarth's  engravings  before  her  to  find 
out  what  Freelance  had  meant  when  he 
spoke  of  the  photograph  in  the  red  plush 
frame.  She  made  a  practice  now  of 
quietly  looking  up  every  book  or  picture 
that  he  chanced  to  mention  in  conversa- 
tion, and  in  this  way  she  had  managed  to 
scrape  a  slight  acquaintance  with  certain 
phases  of  literature  and  art,  and  to  ac- 
quire, in  haphazard  fashion,  some  know- 
ledge of  the  sort  that  country  folk  usually 
call  "  book-larnin',"  in  a  tone  that  in- 
dicates some  uncertainty  in  their  minds 
in  regard  to  its  real  value. 

Maude  soon  came  across  the  picture  to 
which  Freelance  had  referred.  It  was  the 
one  in  which  the  Jew's  mistress  picks  a 
quarrel  with  her  protector,  while  the 
lover,  aided  by  her  maid,  escapes  from 
the  room  unobserved.  The  genius  of  the 

310 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

great  artist  appealed  strongly  to  the 
practical  side  of  her  character  as  well  as 
to  the  sense  of  humor  which,  as  I  have 
already  noted,  had  been  highly  developed 
by  her  acquaintance  with  the  cynical  Mr. 
Freelance.  She  smiled  broadly  as  she  ex- 
amined the  picture  carefully  and  thought 
of  Pearl  Livingstone  and  the  friend  who 
kindly  paid  her  rent.  Then  she  glanced  at 
the  other  pictures  until  she  came  to  "  The 
Rake's  Progress,"  and  that  set  her  think- 
ing. It  seemed  to  her  that  the  career  set 
down  there,  in  the  minute  detail  that  only 
Hogarth  was  capable  of,  was  that  of  her 
husband,  whom  she  had  left  but  an  hour 
before,  sleeping  the  heavy  sleep  of  semi- 
inebriety.  The  clothes  and  other  acces- 
sories belonged  to  a  century  long  gone 
by,  but  the  spendthrift  himself  was  Dolly, 
and  the  men  and  women  who  flattered  and 
pandered  to  him  were  so  many  Whiffle- 
trees  and  Doonothings,  and — "I  hope 
I  'm  not  in  that  crowd  of  frowzy-looking 
311 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

women,"  she  said  to  herself,  angrily,  as 
she  closed  the  book  with  a  bang.  The 
thought  was  not  a  pleasant  one,  and  as 
she  left  the  library  and  walked  rapidly 
uptown  she  tried  vainly  to  drive  it  from 
her  mind.  There  was  another  picture, 
almost  as  unpleasant  as  this  one,  which 
remained  obstinately  in  her  memory,  and 
that  was  the  one  which  depicted  the  closing 
scene  in  the  life  of  the  young  English  rake. 
"  I  don't  think  Dolly  will  ever  go  crazy 
on  his  small  stock  of  brains,"  she  said  to 
herself,  with  more  contempt  than  pity  in 
her  heart.  And  then  the  hideous  reality 
of  the  madhouse,  and  the  gay  young 
pleasure-seeker  with  his  head  shaved  and 
the  leer  of  imbecility  on  his  face,  came 
upon  her  with  a  pointed  significance  that 
made  her  sick  at  heart.  Since  her  mar- 
riage she  had  been  unable  to  shut  her  eyes 
to  the  fact  that  Dolly  was  not  exactly 
what  he  had  been  in  the  days  when  she 
first  knew  him.  He  acted  strangely  at 

312 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

times,  and  had  fallen  into  a  habit  of  talk- 
ing to  himself.  He  seemed  to  be  short  of 
money,  too,  which  was  incomprehensible 
to  her,  for  from  her  earliest  childhood  she 
had  been  accustomed  to  think  of  the  Dil- 
lenbeck  fortune  as  inexhaustible.  How 
could  this  foolish  boy  have  spent  it  all  in 
such  a  short  time  ?  It  troubled  her  more 
than  the  loss  of  his  mind. 

She  thought  at  once  of  Freelance, — as 
she  always  did  in  emergency, — and  she 
wondered  whether  or  no  he  would  with- 
draw his  friendship  from  her  because  of 
her  marriage.  She  would  lose  no  time, 
but  send  for  him  at  once,  tell  him  all  that 
she  feared,  and  implore  him  not  to  desert 
her.  It  lacked  but  a  few  weeks  of  her 
New  York  debut,  and  without  his  strong 
common  sense,  managerial  skill,  and  well- 
tried  fidelity  to  lean  on,  she  felt  that  it 
would  be  useless  for  her  to  make  her 
appeal  to  the  heartless,  careless,  blase  met- 
ropolitan public. 

313 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Again  the  picture  of  the  madhouse 
came  back  to  her.  "  Women  should  never 
look  at  such  drawings  as  that,"  she  said 
to  herself.  "  There  is  too  much  truth  in 
them  to  please  us.  We  would  rather  see 
the  world  portrayed  as  we  would  like 
to  have  it  than  as  it  is.  I  don't  think 
that  Hogarth  was  ever  popular  with 
women." 

And  just  then  she  found  herself  face 
to  face  with  Mr.  Freelance ;  for  her  rapid 
steps  had  brought  her  up  Broadway  well 
beyond  the  St.  Anthony  House,  and  the 
manager  was  on  his  way  to  the  office  of 
Hustle  &  Hardup.  He  greeted  her  with 
calm  politeness,  and  made  no  reference  to 
what  she  had  told  him  on  the  occasion  of 
their  last  meeting. 

"  Billy,"  she  said,  looking  wistfully  into 
his  face,  "I  want  to  speak  to  you  about 
Mr.  Dillenbeck.  Sometimes  he  does  very 
queer  things,  and  I  often  wonder  how  it 
will  all  end.  His  memory  seems  to  be 
314 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

faulty,  and  this  morning  I  went  and 
looked  at  those  pictures  of  Hogarth's 
that  you  told  me  about.  There  was  one 
that  was  terrible — the  last  one  in  'The 
Rake's  Progress' — the  one  where  he  is 
in  the  madhouse.  I  can't  get  it  out  of 
my  mind." 

She  was  not  acting  this  time,  a  fact 
that  Mr.  Freelance,  who  was  thoroughly 
familiar  with  all  her  moods  and  methods, 
recognized  as  soon  as  she  began  to  speak. 
He  shrugged  his  shoulders  in  reply,  and 
said,  after  a  moment's  thought:  "Well, 
what  can  you  expect?  Here  's  a  young 
man  who  has  been  brought  up  on  milk, 
and  jumps  from  that  to  champagne  and 
brandy.  He  's  not  overstrong,  either  in 
body  or  mind,  and  he  simply  can't  stand 
the  pace.  You  're  his  wife,  and  if  you 
can't  make  him  pull  up  and  take  care  of 
himself  the  chances  are  that  he  won't  last 
much  longer.  Can't  you  send  him  away 
somewhere  for  a  few  months  ?  There  are 

315 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

institutions  that  make  a  specialty  of  treat- 
ing such  cases  as  his." 

"I  believe  that  's  a  very  good  idea, 
Billy,"  said  Maude,  thoughtfully;  "but 
I  'm  afraid  it  will  be  a  very  hard  thing  to 
persuade  him  to  go.  He  might  do  it  if 
we  gave  him  a  good  scare.  Let 's  take 
him  down  to  the  Astor  Library  and  show 
him  those  Hogarth  pictures.  I  know 
they  frightened  me." 

Mr.  Freelance  raised  his  hat  and  was 
about  to  resume  his  walk,  but  the  actress 
detained  him. 

"  There 's  another  thing  I  wish  to  speak 
to  you  about  that  has  worried  me  for 
some  time,"  she  said,  in  hesitating  tones. 
"  I  thought  of  telling  you  about  it  a  good 
while  ago,  but  I  felt  that  you  had  so 
much  on  your  shoulders  in  the  way  of 
responsibility  and  anxiety  that  it  would 
be  wrong  to  give  you  anything  else  to 
worry  about  unless  it  were  absolutely 


316 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"  What  is  it  ? "  demanded  Mr.  Freelance, 
abruptly. 

"Well,  the  fact  is  that  for  some  un- 
accountable reason  Mr.  Dillenbeck  has 
become  very  short  of  money  lately,  and 
several  times  he  has  come  to  me  for 
small  loans,  'just  to  carry  him  through 
the  day,'  as  he  puts  it.  I  don't  imagine 
that  he  is  seriously  embarrassed,  but  I  do 
hope  that  he  will  be  able  to  get  hold  of 
some  ready  cash  before  long,  for  I  can't 
afford  to  dip  into  my  savings  every  day 
or  two,  just  to  keep  him  in  spending- 
money." 

"  Dillenbeck  hard  up  ? "  exclaimed  Free- 
lance. "Well,  if  he  »s  hard  up,  I  'd  like 
to  know  why  he  does  n't  get  off  the  earth. 
All  that  fellow  was  brought  into  the 
world  for  was  to  spend  money ;  and  if  he 
goes  l broke'  he  '11  find  out  very  soon 
that  the  world  has  no  further  use  for 
him.  But  it  can't  be  that  he  has  run 
through  his  property  already.  I  remem- 

317 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

her  his  father,  old  Jacob  Dillenbeck, 
twenty  years  ago,  and  a  close-fisted,  hard- 
headed  old  miser  he  was.  He  was  known 
to  be  rich,  for  he  had  been  hoarding  all 
his  life;  and  as  he  never  speculated  in 
Wall  Street,  or  opened  wine,  or  played 
faro-bank,  or  tried  to  pick  winners,  he 
must  have  left  a  pretty  stiff  heap  when 
he  died.  Foolish  as  that  boy  has  been,  I 
don't  see  how  he  could  have  run  through 
his  property  during  the  short  time  he  's 
been  on  the  town." 

"No,  I  don't  think  he  has,"  rejoined 
Miss  Wheatleigh.  "But  you  see  he  's 
been  under  a  very  heavy  expense  of  late, 
for  in  addition  to  his  extravagant  habits 
he  has  had  to  pay  out  a  great  deal  of 
money  to  keep  that  silly  paper  going — 
and  really  it  must  cost  him  a  great  deal 
to  run  it  and  pay  for  all  those  contribu- 
tions." 

"  I  thought  when  he  had  that  row  with 
old  Whiffletree  that  he  would  have  a 
318 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

chance  to  recoup  himself  financially,  for 
he  was  the  very  worst  '  beat '  in  the  whole 
St.  Anthony  gang;  but  I  suppose  that 
what  he  had  been  spending  on  the  old 
man  he  now  drops  on  the  High  Roller,  so 
it  amounts  to  about  the  same  thing." 

"  He  has  told  me  all  along  that  he  had 
a  large  interest  in  his  mother's  estate," 
continued  Maude,  "  and  that  as  soon  as 
he  could  realize  on  it,  which  would  be 
very  speedily,  he  would  have  about  a 
hundred  thousand  in  cash.  In  the  mean 
time,  however,  we  have  to  live  more 
economically  than  we  used  to,  and  I  ac- 
tually tremble  when  I  think  of  the  money 
that  he  will  have  to  spend  before  the 
season  opens  in  the  fall." 

The  information  imparted  to  him  by 
Maude  made  the  young  business  manager 
very  anxious  about  the  enterprise  in 
which  he  had  embarked,  and  of  which 
Dolly  was  the  financial  corner-stone. 
He  went  to  Hustle  &  Hardup  at  once ; 
319 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

but  those  managers,  although  generally 
shrewd  and  suspicious,  were  now  so 
elated  by  their  association  with  the  popu- 
lar young  Broadway  wine-opener  that 
they  laughed  at  his  fears  and  assured 
him  that  young  Dillenbeck  still  had 
millions  back  of  him.  Theatrical  man- 
agers never  talk  of  anything  less  than 
millions,  even  when  no  bills  of  larger  de- 
nomination than  two  dollars  are  passing 
through  their  hands. 

From  the  managers'  offices  Mr.  Free- 
lance went  directly  to  the  High  Boiler 
office  and  bluntly  requested  Dolly  to  in- 
form him  plainly  in  regard  to  his  finan- 
cial condition.  He  received  from  the 
young  man  the  same  assurance  that  he 
had  already  given  Maude  regarding  the 
money  that  was  to  come  to  him  from  his 
mother's  estate ;  and,  so  straightforward 
and  sincere  were  his  words,  so  apparent 
was  it  that  he  himself  firmly  believed 
what  he  was  saying,  that  Mr.  Freelance 

320 


"A  REMARKABLY  NICE  LOOKING  YOUNG  WOMAN." 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

departed  very  much  relieved  in  his  mind. 
He  was  convinced  that  Dolly  had  spoken 
the  truth,  and  although  he  expected  that 
they  would  all  be  cramped  for  a  month 
or  two,  he  had  no  doubt  that  his  affairs 
would  eventually  be  straightened  out. 

A  few  days  later  a  whispered  rumor 
reached  the  alert  ears  of  Mr.  Freelance 
to  the  effect  that  young  Dolly  Dillenbeck 
had  nearly  reached  the  bottom  of  the 
heap  of  gold  that  but  yesterday  had  been 
regarded  as  inexhaustible.  This  rumor 
the  young  manager  proceeded  to  laugh  to 
scorn  in  such  a  confident  and  convincing 
manner  that,  for  a  few  days  at  least,  its 
voice  was  stilled.  Nevertheless  the  hard 
times  had  set  in  for  those  who  were 
dependent  in  any  way  upon  the  young 
Croesus.  The  merry  band  of  genials  no 
longer  gathered  at  the  St.  Anthony  House 
to  pound  upon  the  table,  chant  his  praises, 
and  drink  his  health  in  the  wine  for 
which  he  paid  the  reckoning.  Poor 
21  321 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Adolph,  gloomily  calculating  that  one 
more  month  of  Dolly  would  have  enabled 
him  to  purchase  the  vineyard  on  which 
he  had  long  ago  set  his  heart,  now  de- 
voted so  much  of  his  time  to  watching 
the  swinging  doors  of  the  cafe,  in  hopes 
that  the  young  champagne  prince  would 
return  again  to  his  kingdom,  that  the 
proprietor  of  the  house  sharply  chided 
him  for  his  neglect  of  duty.  Whereupon 
the  faithful  and  industrious  servitor  burst 
into  a  flood  of  tears  and  told  his  em- 
ployer that  unless  young  Mr.  Dillenbeck's 
custom  could  be  brought  back  to  the  cafe 
he  did  not  care  whether  he  were  dis- 
charged himself  or  not.  Once  in  a  while 
one  of  Dolly's  stray  followers  would  pass 
through  the  swinging  doors,  cast  an  anx- 
ious and  thirsty  eye  about  the  room,  and 
then  vanish ;  but  no  one  ever  thought  of 
waiting  twenty-four  hours  for  Dolly  to 
appear,  as  they  had  done  in  the  glad  days 
before. 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

The  hard  times  were  felt  at  the  High 
Holler  office  as  well  as  in  the  cafe.  The 
printers'  bill  was  growing  steadily  from 
week  to  week,  and  the  voice  of  the  paper- 
dealer  was  making  itself  heard  in  accents 
of  pleading,  followed  by  complaint.  Even 
the  contributors  were  beginning  to  grum- 
ble, and  Senator  Hardscrabble  made  one 
or  two  very  pointed  remarks  about  the 
impropriety  of  keeping  gentlemen  wait- 
ing for  their  money.  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted, however,  that  he  spoke  under  the 
spur  of  great  affliction,  for  the  barrel  that 
had  contained  choice  Bourbon  whisky  was 
empty,  and  there  was  no  more  to  be  had 
except  for  cash. 

The  office  was  no  longer  a  pleasant 
lounging-place  for  any  one,  and  Dolly 
contrived  to  keep  away  from  it  as  much 
as  possible,  leaving  the  management  of 
its  affairs  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Puffe,  who 
did  not  care  what  went  into  the  paper  so 
long  as  he  could  collect  his  salary ;  and 
323 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

now  that  that  was  in  arrears  his  indiffer- 
ence was  more  marked  than  ever  before. 
About  this  time  a  terrible  discovery 
was  made  in  regard  to  the  circulation  of 
the  High  Boiler.  Of  the  earlier  numbers 
twenty  thousand  copies  a  week  had  been 
taken  by  the  American  News  Company 
and  distributed  throughout  the  country 
(about  half  of  these  came  back  each 
week),  and  when  the  paper  entered  upon 
the  third  month  of  its  existence  a  check 
amounting  to  several  hundred  dollars 
was  paid  by  the  News  Company.  Dolly 
looked  upon  this  check  as  an  evidence  of 
the  High  Boiler's  prosperity ;  and  so  con- 
fident was  he  in  his  enterprise,  so  unwill- 
ing to  listen  to  the  words  of  any  one  who 
did  not  flatter  him,  that  he  did  not  realize 
that  the  public,  having  satisfied  its  curi- 
osity in  regard  to  the  new  publication, 
had  ceased  to  buy  it  except  by  accident, 
and  that  the  circulation  had  almost  en- 
tirely fallen  off.  Then  the  American 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

News  Company  began  to  send  the  returns 
back  by  the  cart-load,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  third  month  poor  Dolly  found  to  his 
dismay  that  not  only  was  there  no  money 
due  him  from  the  company,  but  that  he 
was  actually  in  debt  for  unsold  copies  of 
the  earlier  editions  that  had  been  returned 
to  him. 

Maude  came  home  one  night  and  found 
her  husband  by  secret  marriage  sitting 
up  in  a  gaudy,  flowered  dressing-gown  be- 
fore a  table  that  was  strewn  with  paper. 

"I  don't  know  how  it  is,"  he  said 
mournfully,  as  she  greeted  him,  "but 
this  infernal  News  Company  always  sends 
back  more  papers  than  it  takes.  "We 
sent  them  ten  thousand  copies  this  week, 
and  the  returns  are  twelve  thousand.  I 
wonder  if  they  've  got  a  printing-press 
and  print  them  themselves  every  week  ? " 

"  That 's  one  of  the  principal  expenses 
in  a  newspaper  office,"  remarked  Mr. 
Freelance,  gravely — he  had  just  brought 
21*  325 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Maude  in  from  an  evening  rehearsal — 
"  you  're  compelled  to  buy  so  many 
papers  from  the  American  News  Com- 
pany every  week,  whether  you  want 
them  or  not.  Now  I  dare  say  that  you 
could  get  along  very  nicely  with  only 
one  or  two  hundred  copies  of  this  week's 
issue,  but  that  concern  will  insist  upon 
making  you  take  twelve  thousand,  whether 
you  want  them  or  not.  I  have  had  my  ex- 
perience with  them,  and  it  was  always  the 
same  story.  Sometimes  when  I  wanted 
money  to  buy  food  with  I  had  to  spend 
it  on  the  American  News  Company,  buy- 
ing papers  that  I  did  n't  want.  Now,  if 
you  were  to  do  what  I  've  often  told  you 
to, — that  is,  put  something  in  your  High 
Roller  that  the  people  will  read, — the 
company  will  buy  papers  of  you  instead 
of  selling  them  to  you." 

"Yes,  Dolly,"  chimed  in  Maude,  "do, 
for  heaven's  sake,  pay  attention  to  what 
Mr.  Freelance  says,  and  get  some  one 

326 


DOLLT  DILLENBECK 

who  knows  how  to  write  to  contribute  to 
your  paper.  If  I  were  you  I  would  throw 
that  old  Hardscrabble  and  Doonothing 
and  all  the  rest  of  them  out  of  doors. 
What  they  write  positively  makes  me  sick. 
It  's  all  about  bar-rooms  and  bummers 
and  courteous  doorkeepers;  and  in  that 
column  of  paragraphs  there  are  always 
at  least  three  puffs  of  McSnorley's  Square 
Deal  Restaurant.  I  suppose  those  old 
beats  are  running  up  accounts  there. 
And,  Dolly,  do,  for  heaven's  sake,  give 
orders  not  to  mention  my  name  more 
than  once  a  week.  I  am  afraid  to  pick 
up  the  High  Roller  for  fear  I  '11  see  some 
idiotic  story  about  myself,  or  some  ridic- 
ulous puff  of  my  talents,  badly  written, 
untrue,  and  calculated  to  do  me  more 
harm  than  good." 


327 


CHAPTER  XXI 

"I  AM  afraid/'  said  Mr.  Freelance  to 
Maude  one  day,  as  she  was  deploring  her 
husband's  continued  excesses,  "that  we 
are  entering  upon  a  long  period  of  dis- 
comfort and  financial  depression  that 
may  end  in  actual  disaster.  As  you 
know,  the  great  firm  of  Hustle  &  Hardup 
is  chronically  impecunious  and  has  not 
the  slightest  credit  anywhere  in  the 
country.  The  money  which  must  be  ex- 
pended for  costumes,  scenery,  lithographs, 
advertising,  etc.,  before  we  begin  our 
season,  runs  up  into  the  thousands,  and 
where  it  is  to  come  from  I  don't  know. 
How  soon  will  that  precious  husband  of 
yours  come  into  possession  of  his  mother's 
estate?" 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"Not  until  he  is  twenty-seven  years 
old,"  replied  Maude.  "  I  rather  imagine 
that  the  old  lady  had  a  pretty  correct  idea 
of  his  taste  for  extravagance,  and  fixed 
it  so  that  he  would  have  something  to 
fall  back  on  when  the  rest  of  his  pile  was 
gone." 

"  Well,  the  only  thing  that  I  can  sug- 
gest," said  Mr.  Freelance,  thoughtfully, 
"  is  to  have  him  make  a  raise,  using  his 
expectations  as  collateral." 

This  was  suggested  to  Dolly,  and  the 
idea  pleased  him  hugely.  He  was  tired 
of  being  hard  up,  and,  besides,  for  nearly 
a  month  he  had  not  heard  himself  termed 
a  perfect  gentleman,  nor  had  there  been 
such  a  tidal  wave  of  enthusiasm  for  him 
along  Broadway  as  there  had  been  during 
the  period  in  which  he  was  making  his 
reputation  as  a  dispenser  of  hospitality. 
He  was  perfectly  willing,  so  he  told  Mr. 
Freelance,  to  give  a  large  bonus  to  any 
one  who  would  accommodate  him  with  a 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

loan  of  ten  thousand  dollars.  The  will 
could  be  seen  at  the  surrogate's  office, 
and  the  property,  consisting  of  the  house 
in  Madison  Square  in  which  he  had  been 
born,  and  certain  other  parcels  of  real 
estate  which  the  prudent  Dillenbeck  had 
purchased  in  his  wife's  name,  was  all 
free  and  clear  of  encumbrance,  and  con- 
tinually increasing  in  value.  For  once  in 
his  life  Dolly  showed  a  gleam  of  common 
sense  and  placed  the  matter  in  the  hands 
of  Joe  Whitcomb,  who  was  a  clear- 
headed, hard-working,  and  honest  young 
business  man — one  who  proved  himself 
such  by  instantly  advising  his  old  friend 
not  to  break  into  his  inheritance  for  any 
such  uncertain  venture  as  a  theatrical 
company. 

But  when  Dolly  showed  him  that  he 
had  determined  to  have  his  way,  Joe  re- 
luctantly consented  to  go  about  among 
his  friends  and  make  as  good  a  bargain 
for  him  as  he  possibly  could. 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Meanwhile  the  horizon  seemed  so  dark 
and  uncertain  to  Mr.  Freelance  that  more 
than  once  he  expressed  to  Miss  Wheat- 
leigh  his  intention  of  throwing  up  his 
engagement  as  manager  and  returning 
to  his  old  trade  of  writing  for  the  news- 
papers. Then  it  was  Maude  who  came  to 
the  front  in  a  most  unexpected  and  reas- 
suring manner,  by  confessing  that  ever 
since  her  introduction  to  the  theatrical 
profession  she  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
putting  away  small  and  large  sums  of 
money  from  time  to  time,  so  as  to  be 
prepared  for  any  emergency. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Becky 
Sharp  displayed  the  same  kind  of  pru- 
dence and  a  like  reserve  concerning  it. 
Poor  Becky !  There  is  just  one  point  in 
her  career  in  which  she  fairly  wins  the 
sympathy  of  her  sex,  and  that  is  when 
her  husband  compels  her  to  open  the 
little  box  which  contains  her  treasures. 

"Now,  not  a  word  of  this  to  Dolly," 
331 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

was  her  condition  as  she  placed  a  thou- 
sand dollars  in  her  manager's  hands. 
"No,  I  don't  want  any  receipt,  for  I  can 
trust  you.  Sometimes  I  wish  that  we 
could  get  my  husband  out  of  the  partner- 
ship and  run  the  business  ourselves — you 
and  I." 

"  I  have  been  in  the  theatrical  business 
a  dozen  years,  and  this  is  the  first  time  I 
ever  heard  of  a  woman  in  it  wishing  to 
leave  her  husband  and  take  up  with  her 
manager,"  rejoined  Mr.  Freelance,  with 
perfect  gravity. 

With  the  little  money  that  Miss  Wheat- 
leigh  could  supply,  supplemented  by  his 
own  business  ability,  good  taste,  and 
financial  experience,  Mr.  Freelance  con- 
tinued, with  hopeful  mien  and  anxious 
heart,  the  preparations  for  the  first  an- 
nual tour  of  the  Maude  Wheatleigh  com- 
bination. Paragraphs  laudatory  of  the 
genius  and  beauty  of  his  star  glistened 
in  the  columns  of  the  daily  papers.  De- 

332 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

scriptions  of  her  happy  childhood  hours 
along  the  gem-encrusted  beach  and  among 
the  luxuriant  tropical  foliage  of  San 
Domingo  cast  their  magic  spell  over 
newspaper  readers  of  both  sexes  and  of 
every  age.  (San  Domingo  was  chosen  as 
her  birthplace  because  Mr.  Freelance  said 
that  it  had  not  yet  produced  a  great 
actress  and  was  therefore  about  due.) 
Even  the  "dainty  apartment  with  its 
choice  bric-a-brac  and  rare  etchings  "  that 
had  done  such  good  service  in  behalf  of 
Pearl  Livingstone  was  once  more  brought 
into  requisition;  but  this  time  it  was 
graced  with  a  samovar,  in  order,  as  Mr. 
Freelance  expressed  it,  to  "  bring  it  up  to 
date  and  go  Livingstone  one  better." 

Very  little  was  seen  of  Dolly  Dillen- 
beck  in  these  days,  for  he  was  not  the 
sort  of  man  to  face  importuning  creditors 
when  it  was  possible  to  slip  out  of  sight ; 
and  as  every  day  brought  its  new  troubles, 
Dolly  was  willing  to  leave  all  responsibil- 

333 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

ity  on  the  shoulders  of  his  manager,  and 
devote  himself  to  the  task  of  avoiding 
everybody.  About  the  middle  of  Sep- 
tember the  High  Roller  ceased  publica- 
tion, amid  the  wails  and  lamentations 
of  those  who  held  claims  against  it  for 
goods  or  services  rendered.  Dolly  had 
long  since  ceased  to  take  any  interest  in 
the  venture,  and  its  collapse  did  not  seem 
to  affect  him  at  all.  He  was  so  accus- 
tomed to  bad  luck,  he  said  complain- 
ingly,  that  one  blow  more  or  less  made 
no  difference  to  him. 

To  tell  the  truth,  Dolly's  luck  in  all 
affairs  of  chance  had  been  phenomenally 
bad  ever  since  he  first  ventured  on 
Broadway.  If  he  played  faro  he  was 
sure  to  lose,  and  if  he  played  poker  he 
generally  won  during  the  early  part  of 
the  evening,  but  always  discovered,  when 
he  held  a  particularly  good  hand,  that 
somebody  else  at  the  table  had  a  better 
one.  He  had  gambled  in  Wall  Street, 

334 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

speculated  in  grain,  and  bought  pool- 
tickets  at  the  races,  but  always  with  the 
same  result.  The  poor  fellow  had  been 
a  marker  for  blacklegs,  adventurers,  and 
rascals  of  every  description  ever  since  he 
first  made  his  appearance  on  upper  Broad- 
way. In  all  his  career  he  had  not  at- 
tracted to  himself  a  single  true  friend 
except  Joe  Whitcomb,  who  was  always 
ready  to  stand  by  him,  and  who  had 
warned  him  repeatedly  against  the  peo- 
ple with  whom  he  associated. 

But  it  was  impossible  to  make  him 
understand  that  the  gentleman  with  the 
fine  mustache,  piercing  eyes,  and  clear- 
cut  profile,  who  was  so  ready  to  drink 
champagne  with  him,  and  who  never 
failed  to  declare  that  he — Dolly — was 
one  of  the  finest  gentleman  that  the  Deity 
had  ever  permitted  to  live  on  the  foot- 
stool, could,  after  such  a  display  of  disin- 
terested friendship,  deliberately  deal  to 
that  matchless  young  Chesterfield  three 

335 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

kings  and  two  aces,  and  to  himself  four 
trays  and  an  unimportant  card. 

He  had  dropped  thousands  of  dollars 
in  gambling-houses  without  ever  even 
learning  of  the  existence  of  what  is 
termed  a  "brace-box,"  and  he  had  wa- 
gered unheard-of  sums  at  Brighton  under 
the  delusion  that  it  was  customary  for 
the  best  horse  to  win.  The  horses  did 
not  start  at  Guttenberg  until  after  he 
had  made  his  bets. 

There  are  some  men  who  are  constitu- 
tionally incapable  of  distinguishing  be- 
tween sincerity  and  that  form  of  deceit 
which  finds  its  best  aid  in  flattery.  Such 
men  are  always  at  the  mercy  of  unprin- 
cipled sharps,  and  will  never  accept  with- 
out suspicion  the  advice  of  those  who  are 
capable  and  honest  enough  to  be  of  use 
to  them. 

Dolly  was  a  man  of  this  description. 

The  only  paying  investment  that  he 
had  made  during  his  whole  career  of  silly 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

extravagance  was  the  money  advanced  to 
Hustle  &  Hardup  for  a  third  interest  in 
the  Maude  Wheatleigh  company.  To  be 
sure,  he  had  spent  a  great  deal  of  money 
in  securing  for  himself  a  personal  lien  on 
the  young  lady ;  but  the  interest  which 
he  held  in  her  professional  prospects  was 
one  that  was  well  worth  the  money  he 
had  advanced  for  it,  and  promised  to 
become  still  more  valuable  in  the  years 
to  come. 

One  evening  Mr.  Joe  Whitcomb  en- 
countered Mr.  Freelance  in  the  lobby  of 
an  uptown  theater,  and  straightway  drew 
him  aside,  with  a  look  of  importance  on 
his  face. 

"  I  was  just  hoping  that  I  'd  run  across 
you  somewhere,"  said  Joe,  "  for  this  mat- 
ter of  Dillenbeck's  has  taken  a  new  and 
surprising  turn.  Did  you  ever  hear 
anything  about  Miss  Wheatleigh's  child- 
hood ! " 

"No,"  replied  the  manager,  carelessly. 
22  337 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"She  was  born  somewhere  up  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  I  think  she  told  me  she 
worked  in  a  dressmaker's  shop,  or  some- 
thing of  that  sort,  before  she  came  to 
New  York.  Why?" 

"Yes,  that  's  it,"  said  the  other;  "it 
was  in  a  dressmaker's  shop  that  her  hus- 
band first  saw  her.  She  comes  from  the 
same  part  of  the  country  that  he  and  I 
do,  and  I  was  dead  gone  on  her  myself 
when  I  was  eighteen  years  old.  Yoii 
never  knew  that,  I  suppose?" 

Mr.  Freelance  uttered  an  exclamation 
of  astonishment.  "  I  cannot  understand 
what  reason  she  had  for  hiding  this  from 
me,"  he  said,  thoughtfully. 

"What  I  want  to  know  now,"  con- 
tinued Joe,  with  great  earnestness,  "is 
whether  she  is  legally  married  to  Dillen- 
beck  or  not." 

"  There  is  no  doubt  of  that,"  said  the 
other,  positively.  "  She 's  married  to  him 
hard  and  fast." 

338 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"That  's  a  very  unfortunate  thing," 
said  Whitcomb  as  he  sadly  shook  his 
head.  "  Now  I  understand  why  the  Board 
of  Madagascar  Missions  is  going  to  con- 
test his  mother's  will.  There  is  a  clause 
in  it,  or  rather  a  codicil  added  a  short 
time  before  her  death,  which  provides 
that  all  the  real  estate  is  to  go  to  the 
Board  of  Missions  in  case  her  son  con- 
tracts a  marriage  with  Mary  Hunt,  at 
that  time  a  resident  of  Maplefield,  Mass. 
And  that  Mary  Hunt,  who  was  always 
known  as  Polly  Hunt,  is  none  other  than 
Maude  Wheatleigh,  now  Mrs.  T.  Adolphus 
Dillenbeck." 

"  Well,  of  all  infernal  streaks  of  hard 
luck,  this  is  the  worst  that  I  ever  heard 
of,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Freelance,  as  he  sat 
down  on  a  bench  and  wiped  the  perspira- 
tion from  his  brow. 

"  You  see,"  explained  Joe,  "  the  old  lady 
had  an  idea  that  Polly  wanted  to  marry 
her  son ;  and  she  got  so  worried  about  it 
339 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

that  she  put  that  codicil  in  her  will  so 
as  to  prevent  it.  Well,  it 's  pie  for  the 
Madagascar  people." 

"  Yes,  and  hell  for  us,"  said  Mr.  Free- 
lance, reverently. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THERE  came  a  day  about  the  middle  of 
October — a  cheery  day  of  blended  haze 
and  sunshine,  one  of  the  sort  calculated  to 
make  glad  the  heart  of  any  one  whose 
business  depended  on  fair  weather.  On 
this  day  Mr.  Freelance  arose  at  the  early 
hour  of  eight,  opened  the  shutters  of  his 
bedroom,  and  looked  anxiously  up  at  the 
serene,  cloudless  sky.  "Thank  Heaven 
for  the  good  weather !  That  'a  one  of  the 
first  pieces  of  good  luck  that  has  come  to 
us  in  a  long  while,"  he  said  to  himself; 
and  then  added,  with  a  sigh,  "  In  fifteen 
hours  the  curtain  will  be  down  and  the 
long  agony  over.  Then  I  '11  be  able  to 
form  some  idea  as  to  whether  I  Ve  made 

22*  341 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

a  fool  of  myself  again,  or  struck  a  good 
thing  at  last." 

Then  his  thoughts  turned  to  Dolly,  and 
a  great  and  sincere  pity  took  possession 
of  his  heart.  Since  the  crushing  reve- 
lation in  regard  to  the  special  clause  in 
his  mother's  will  that  unfortunate  young 
man  had  simply  "gone  all  to  pieces,"  as 
Whitcomb  put  it,  with  a  rapidity  that 
had  shocked  even  those  who  had  been 
aware  of  his  true  mental  condition ;  and 
now  that  the  day  to  which  he  had  been 
looking  forward  for  so  many  months,  and 
with  such  an  intense  longing,  had  dawned 
at  last,  Adolphus  Dillenbeck,  but  yester- 
day one  of  the  gayest  figures  in  the  town, 
could  have  no  part  in  the  joys  and  splen- 
dor of  Maude  Wheatleigh's  New  York 
debut.  He  had  gone  to  the  White  Moun- 
tains for  his  health,  was  the  way  in  which 
Maude  and  Freelance  accounted  for  his 
long  absence  from  Broadway ;  and  there 
were  but  two  or  three  besides  them  who 

342 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

knew  that  the  White  Mountains  was  a 
large  and  gloomy  mansion  situated  in  the 
midst  of  pleasant  gardens,  and  filled  with 
guests,  some  silent  and  sad,  others  rag- 
ing like  wild  beasts,  others,  again,  with 
smiling,  vacant  faces,  playing  contentedly 
with  toys,  and  all  under  the  watchful  eyes 
of  alert,  sinewy  attendants. 

I  know  that  I  am  missing  a  great 
opportunity  in  not  presenting  to  my 
readers  a  graphic  picture  of  the  closing 
hours  of  poor  Dolly  Dillenbeck's  career. 
In  the  hands  of  a  realist — meaning  one 
with  a  taste  for  dirt  and  delirium  tremens 
— the  subject  might  well  become  the  ex- 
cuse for  a  revolting  study  of  mental  de- 
cay in  all  its  repellent  phases  j  but  to  me 
the  theme  is  so  distasteful, — infinitely 
more  so  than  death, — so  pregnant  of  sad 
memories  and  sadder  forebodings,  that  I 
have  not  the  heart  to  probe  into  it  too 
deeply.  I  have  seen  too  many  old  com- 
rades drop  out  of  the  ranks  and  go  stag- 
343 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

gering  down  the  long  easy  grade  until 
the  heavy  doors  closed  upon  them  and 
mercifully  hid  them  from  view.  Let  us 
think  of  poor  George  Gaunt,  of  Bavaria's 
mad  king,  of  Tittlebat  Titmouse,  and 
imagine  what  this  poor  simple  good- 
natured  spendthrift  has  become  since  his 
mind  gave  way. 

I  last  saw  him  entering  the  St.  Anthony 
cafe,  where  there  was  an  unpaid  score  of 
colossal  dimensions  recorded  against  him. 
I  watched  him  as  he  seated  himself  in  an 
easy-chair,  took  from  his  pocket  a  five- 
dollar  bill,  and  placed  it  on  the  table  be- 
fore him.  The  man  who  put  out  the  gas 
the  last  time  that  Edwin  Forrest  played 
was  seated  in  a  remote  corner  of  the 
room,  and  looked  on  indifferently  as 
Dolly  entered  and  dropped  wearily  into 
the  leather-covered  arm-chair. 

"  There 's  a  fellow,"  he  remarked  to  the 
man  with  whom  he  was  drinking,  "who 
hain't  got  a  dollar  to  his  name,  and  can't 
344 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

get  a  drink  in  this  house  unless  he  shows 
the  price  of  it  first.  What  's  more,  he 
looks  to  me  as  if  he  was  a-gittin'  a  little 
nutty.  I  can  remember  the  time  when 
he  was  a  perfect  gentleman." 

At  this  moment  he  caught  sight  of  the 
five-dollar  bill,  and,  with  a  hasty  adieu  to 
his  friend,  he  darted  across  the  room  and 
seized  Dolly  warmly  by  the  hand.  The 
bottle  of  champagne  that  they  drank  on 
this  occasion  was  the  last  one  purchased 
by  the  ruined  young  man,  whose  swift 
career  is  still  fresh  in  the  memory  of  the 
frequenters  of  the  cafes  and  theaters  on 
upper  Broadway.  Dolly's  guest  saved 
the  cork  and  tinfoil,  and  has  since  made 
them  the  basis  of  a  new  claim  to  metro- 
politan renown.  Indeed,  his  fame  as  the 
extinguisher  of  the  gas  on  Forrest's  last 
night  has  grown  dim  since  then  in  the 
face  of  the  fierce  white  light  that  now 
marks  him  wherever  he  goes  as  the  man 
who  drank  half  of  the  last  bottle  of  wine 
345 


DOLLT  DILLENBECK 

that  Dolly  Dillenbeck  opened  on  Broad- 
way. Moreover,  the  same  bright  glare 
completely  effaced  the  feeble  flame  of  a 
new  and  rival  celebrity  who  was  begin- 
ning at  that  time  to  establish  a  lucrative 
connection  in  a  number  of  first-class 
cafes  on  the  strength  of  the  fact  that  he 
had  been  on  the  gate  the  first  time  that 
Lydia  Thompson  appeared  in  America. 

At  ten  o'clock  Mr.  Freelance,  still  think- 
ing pitifully  of  Dolly,  crossed  Broadway, 
and  ran  almost  into  the  arms  of  Gen- 
eral Whiffletree  and  Judge  Doonothing, 
who  were  standing  on  the  curb.  It  was 
seldom  indeed  that  those  distinguished 
gentlemen  appeared  in  public  at  such  an 
early  hour,  and  now  there  was  a  haggard 
look  of  unrest  on  the  faces  of  both  that 
told  of  sleepless  nights  and  long,  anxious 
vigils. 

"Is  it  true  that  young  Dillenbeck  has 
got  back  to  town  ? "  they  both  demanded, 


346 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

u  Certainly,"  replied  Mr.  Freelance,  with 
cheerful  mendacity.  "  And  he 's  as  bright 
as  a  new  fiddle — looks  as  he  used  to,  and 
feels  as  well  as  he  looks.  He  's  come 
back  so  as  to  attend  Miss  Wheatleigh's 
first  performance  at  the  Jollity  Theater 
to-night,  and  he  '11  expect  to  see  both  of 
you  gentlemen  there." 

"  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  see  him,"  re- 
plied the  Judge,  pompously.  "  I  consider 
that  that  young  man  has  treated  me  in 
a  very  shabby  and  contemptible  manner. 
I  Ve  always  taken  a  warm  interest  in 
him,  and  when  he  started  the  High  Roller 
I  devoted  a  great  deal  of  very  valuable 
time  to  putting  the  paper  on  its  feet.  I 
was  at  his  office  every  day  of  my  life,  and 
attended  to  a  great  many  important  trans- 
actions for  him  without  ever  asking  for 
a  cent  in  the  way  of  salary.  Then  at  his 
special  request  I  consented  to  contribute 
a  few  reminiscences — matter,  sir,  that 
has  never  appeared  in  print  before,  and 

347 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

proved  of  incalculable  value  in  booming 
his  miserable  journal.  I  have  never  been 
paid  for  the  last  of  those  contributions, 
sir,  and,  what 's  more,  sir,  Mr.  Dillenbeck 
has  not  had  the  decency  to  answer  a 
single  one  of  the  letters  that  I  have 
written  him  on  the  subject.  I  would 
like  my  honorarium  for  my  articles,  sir, 
and,  what 's  more,  I  propose  to  have  it." 
The  Judge  looked  very  fierce  as  he 
uttered  these  words,  and  an  expression 
of  sympathy  came  into  Mr.  Freelance's 
face  as  he  regarded  him.  Then  G-eneral 
Whiffletree  broke  in :  "  As  you  know,  I  had 
a  slight  misunderstanding  with  Mr.  Dil- 
lenbeck some  weeks  ago,  and  for  a  long 
while  we  did  not  speak  to  one  another. 
One  day,  however,  we  met,  and  he  ac- 
costed me  in  such  a  friendly  manner,  and 
expressed  such  sincere  regret  for  what 
had  happened,  that  I  believed  his  repen- 
tance genuine,  and  consented,  somewhat 
against  my  will,  to  contribute  to  his  jour- 
348 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

nal.  Now,  sir,  my  time  is  fully  occupied 
with  business  of  far  greater  importance 
than  writing  for  the  press,  but  of  course 
I  have  had  a  wide  experience  and  have 
met  a  great  many  prominent  men  in  my 
time,  and  so,  just  to  oblige  this  young 
man,  to  whom  I  have  stood  in  the  light 
of  a  father  since  he  first  struck  the  town, 
I  sat  down  and  prepared  some  reminis- 
cences of  Willard's  Hotel,  in  Washington, 
and  the  men  who  have  frequented  it  dur- 
ing the  past  twenty-five  years.  Would 
you  believe  it,  sir,  that  young  man  had 
the  audacity  to  stop  printing  his  rascally 
paper  on  the  very  day  that  I  sent  him 
my  contribution,  and  I  have  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  he  did  it  on  purpose  to  insult 
me !  I  consider  that  he  owes  me  not 
only  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars,  the 
price  of  my  contribution,  but  also  an 
apology  for  the  manner  in  which  he  has 
treated  me.  I  have  heard  it  stated  re- 
cently that  he  has  gone  wrong  in  his 
349 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

head  and  has  all  sorts  of  strange  delu- 
sions. That  may  account  for  his  behavior 
in  this  instance." 

"  It  is  true  that  he  has  delusions,"  said 
Freelance,  confidentially,  as  he  drew  the 
two  genials  closer  together  and  addressed 
them  in  a  low,  earnest  voice.  "  Why,  he 
has  an  idea,  General,  that  he  has  been 
lending  you  money  for  the  past  two  or 
three  years  5  and,  would  you  believe  it, 
Judge,  he  thinks  that  you  got  him  to 
cash  a  draft  that  you  held  on  somebody 
in  Arkansas,  and  that  the  draft  came 
back  unpaid.  It  is  curious  what  fancies 
take  possession  of  men  once  in  a  while," 
he  continued  thoughtfully;  then,  glanc- 
ing at  his  watch,  he  hastily  bade  them 
good-morning  and  darted  off  before  either 
one  of  them  could  recover  from  his  as- 
tonishment. 

Mr.  Freelance  found  Maude  nervously 
awaiting  him.  She  was  pale,  fretful  and 
anxious,  and  burst  into  tears  when  he 
350 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

told  her  that  it  would  be  impossible  for 
him  to  take  her  to  dinner  that  night,  as 
he  had  an  engagement  to  dine  out. 

"I  don't  see  why  you  should  neglect 
me  to-night  of  all  nights  in  the  year,"  she 
said  as  she  wiped  her  eyes.  "  Where  are 
you  going  ?  " 

"Now,  my  dear,"  said  the  manager, 
soothingly,  "  don't  get  excited  and  injure 
your  chances  of  success.  Go  out  and 
take  a  long  walk  in  the  park,  and  try  to 
forget  yourself  until  to-night.  I  '11  see 
you  before  you  go  on,  though  I  shall 
have  my  hands  full  in  front.  You  Ve 
only  got  one  thing  to  worry  you,  and 
I  Ve  got  a  hundred.  I  met  an  aunt  of 
mine  in  the  street  the  other  day,  and  she 
asked  me  to  dine  with  her  to-night  and 
take  her  to  the  theater.  She  wants  to  see 
you,  and  if  she  likes  you  she  '11  talk  about 
you  to  all  the  women  in  town." 

Maude  took  her  manager's  advice,  and 
thus  prepared  herself  in  the  best  possible 

351 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

manner  for  the  fatigue  and  excitement 
of  the  evening.  In  the  mean  time,  Free- 
lance, who  had  been  just  a  little  pained 
to  notice  that  she  did  not  even  once  refer 
to  Dolly,  busied  himself  with  prepara- 
tions for  the  night's  performance.  In  the 
course  of  the  day  he  soothed  the  orchestra 
leader,  who  was  clamoring  for  his  money, 
calmed  a  suspicious  costumer,  and  uttered 
words  of  hope  and  encouragement  to  all 
whom  he  encountered  about  the  theater. 
Then  he  went  home  to  take  a  brief  nap 
and  dress  for  dinner. 

The  aunt  with  whom  he  was  to  dine 
was  a  younger  sister  of  his  mother,  and 
was  scarcely  half  a  dozen  years  older 
than  himself.  She  was  just  entering 
upon  one  of  the  most  charming  periods 
of  womanhood — that  of  the  half -mourn- 
ing which  succeeds  the  widow's  weeds. 
He  had  met  her  by  accident  in  the  street, 
and  she  had  reminded  him  of  the  fact 
that  he  had  not  been  to  see  her  for  several 
352 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

months,  and  that  Miss  Kitty  Ingraham, 
who  had  long  desired  to  meet  him,  was 
spending  a  few  days  with  her. 

"  It 's  all  right  going  to  see  Aunt  Maria 
and  the  kids,"  said  Mr.  Freelance  to  him- 
self as  he  tied  his  white  cravat,  "  but  it 's 
apt  to  be  a  bore  talking  to  the  girls  she 
has  around  her." 


353 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

IT  was  not  quite  six  o'clock  when  Mr. 
Freelance  rang  the  bell  at  Mrs.  Esmonde's 
door  and  stood  for  a  minute  on  the  thresh- 
old, looking  out  at  the  quiet  street,  on 
which  the  shadows  of  a  chill  autumn 
evening  had  already  fallen.  It  was  a 
cheerless  outlook — one  that  seemed  to  be 
in  complete  accord  with  the  dull  weight 
of  apprehension  and  weariness  of  flesh 
and  soul  that  hung  over  his  usually 
buoyant  spirits.  He  had  just  passed 
through  one  of  the  most  trying  periods 
of  his  whole  life,  and  now  that  the  worst 
was  over,  and  nothing  more  serious  than 
the  threatened  strike  of  the  orchestra  or 
a  possible  demand  from  some  intractable 
actor  stood  between  him  and  either  ruin 
354 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

or  success,  a  feeling  of  numbness  and 
despondency  took  possession  of  his  senses, 
and  as  he  stood  in  the  doorway  of  his 
aunt's  house  he  felt  that  he  would  gladly 
exchange  places  with  any  one  who  could 
earn  a  decent  living  in  some  unexciting 
and  commonplace  path  of  life. 

Then  the  door  was  thrown  open,  and 
as  he  passed  into  the  warm,  well-lighted 
hall,  and  heard  from  the  regions  above 
an  excited  shriek  of  "It 's  Cousin  Billy ! " 
the  weight  of  depression  slid  from  his 
heart,  and  all  memory  of  the  trouble,  the 
anxiety,  the  poverty,  and  the  devices  to 
escape  it  which  had  been  the  sum  total 
of  his  existence  for  so  many  months  past, 
vanished  from  his  mind.  His  careworn 
face  brightened  with  a  smile  that  Maude 
Wheatleigh  would  have  given  a  six 
months'  salary  to  have  won  for  herself; 
and  then  a  small  child  in  a  short  pink 
dress,  and  with  her  long  yellow  hair 
streaming  out  behind  her,  came  flying 

355 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

down  the  broad  staircase  and  bounded 
with  a  joyful  cry  into  his  arms. 

"  Mrs.  Esmonde  wishes  you  to  go  up  to 
the  children's  nursery,  sir,"  said  the  ser- 
vant as  he  relieved  him  of  his  overcoat 
and  umbrella. 

"  Take  me  up  with  you,  Cousin  Billy," 
pleaded  little  Molly.  "I  want  to  show 
you  my  new  doll."  Then  the  manager 
of  the  Maude  Wheatleigh  combination 
placed  little  Molly  on  his  shoulders,  and 
together,  the  child  laughing  merrily  as 
she  clasped  him  tightly  around  the  neck, 
they  walked  up  the  stairs  and  presented 
themselves  at  the  nursery  door. 

"Come  in,  William,"  cried  Mrs.  Es- 
monde, who  was  sitting  by  the  fire  with 
her  youngest  child  on  her  knee.  "  Kitty, 
this  is  my  nephew,  Mr.  Freelance. — Now, 
William,  you  may  entertain  Miss  In- 
graham  while  I  tell  the  children  a  story. 
She  's  dying  to  know  all  about  your 
theatrical  company  and  that  pretty  young 
356 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

woman  who  's  going  to  appear  to-night. 
I  hope  you  did  n't  forget  to  get  that  box 
for  us." 

A  remarkably  nice-looking  young  wo- 
man acknowledged  Mr.  Freelance's  salu- 
tation, leaning  forward  in  her  chair  and 
shading  her  face  from  the  red  firelight 
with  a  fan  of  ostrich  plumes,  while  she 
regarded  him  through  a  pair  of  clear 
gray  eyes. 

I  have  called  Kitty  Ingraham  nice- 
looking  because  that  is  a  convenient, 
non-committal  term,  which,  while  it  con- 
veys precisely  the  idea  intended,  at  the 
same  time  leaves  the  important  question 
of  beauty  to  the  reader's  imagination. 
To  the  young  man  who  beheld  her  now 
for  the  first  time  she  seemed  singularly 
beautiful  as  she  sat  in  a  charming,  un- 
studied attitude,  with  her  cheek  resting 
against  a  mass  of  soft,  trembling  plumes. 
To  me,  who  knew  her  well,  Miss  In- 
graham  was  always  beautiful — far  more 

23*  357 


DOLLT  DILLENBECK 

lovely,  indeed,  on  the  day  when  I  saw  her 
for  the  last  time  than  she  was  when 
we  first  met.  There  were  some  of  her 
friends,  however,  who  maintained  that 
many  of  her  features  were  faulty,  and 
that  if  it  were  not  for  her  eyes,  which 
were  wonderfully  frank  and  true,  and  her 
smile,  which  was  of  irresistible  sweetness, 
she  would  never  be  called  even  pretty. 

Surely  some  folks  in  this  world  are 
very  hard  to  please.  A  woman  engaged 
in  the  warfare  which  engrosses  the  best 
efforts  of  her  younger  years  needs  no 
better  equipment  than  a  smile  and  a  pair 
of  eyes  like  Kitty  Ingraham's. 

The  look  which  this  eminently  attrac- 
tive young  woman  now  bent  upon  the 
slim,  good-looking  young  man  who  stood 
before  her  clad  in  the  conventional  even- 
ing dress  which  so  well  becomes  a  gentle- 
man, and  with  little  Molly  still  perched 
upon  his  shoulders,  was  one  of  keen 
scrutiny;  and  a  certain  expression  crept 

358 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

into  her  face  which  a  close  observer 
might  have  taken  as  an  indication  that 
Mrs.  Esmonde's  cousin  found  favor  in 
her  sight. 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Freelance,"  she  said,  leaning 
back  again  in  her  chair,  "  tell  us  all  about 
this  wonderful  young  actress  whom  we 
are  to  see  to-night.  What  is  she  like  off 
the  stage  f  I  Ve  seen  her  photographs, 
and  they  're  lovely." 

Something  that  might  have  been  a  sigh 
of  weariness  escaped  the  visitor's  lips. 
From  the  moment  in  which  he  saw  little 
Molly  flying  down  the  staircase  he  had 
forgotten  the  Jollity  Theater,  the  actress 
who  was  to  play  there  that  night,  the 
orchestra  which  had  threatened  not  to, 
the  salaries  which  were  long  overdue ;  in 
short,  the  child  with  the  streaming  curls 
had  driven  the  "  shop  "  completely  out  of 
his  mind,  and  diverted  his  thoughts  to 
such  welcome,  refreshing,  and  uplifting 
subjects  as  the  new  doll,  the  little  gray 

359 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

kitten,  and  the  gold  pin  with  the  tiny 
diamond  in  it,  which  was  to  be  worn 
only  on  Sundays. 

Mr.  Freelance  must  have  shown  in  his 
face  his  abhorrence  of  the  whole  question 
of  Miss  Wheatleigh  and  her  New  York 
de"but,  for  Mrs.  Esmonde  instantly  chimed 
in  with :  "  No,  don't  tell  us  anything  about 
her.  We  '11  see  her  to-night,  and  then 
we  '11  tell  you  what  we  think  of  her.  Be- 
sides, you  must  be  bored  to  death  with 
her." 

"To  tell  the  truth,"  said  the  young 
man,  gratefully,  as  he  dropped  into  a  soft 
arm-chair  before  the  fire,  "I  'm  glad 
enough  to  forget  the  theater  whenever  I 
can,  and  this  is  one  of  the  first  chances 
I  Ve  enjoyed  in  a  great  many  weeks." 

Miss  Ingraham,  watching  him  nar- 
rowly, saw  the  haggard  look  of  unrest 
that  came  into  his  face  at  mention  of  the 
actress's  name,  and  said  to  herself,  "  Very 
likely  he  's  interested  in  the  girl."  And 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

then  an  undefined,  inexplicable  feeling 
of  resentment  toward  this  pretty  young 
woman  with  the  baby-blue  eyes  and  the 
graceful  figure  came  upon  her  unawares 
and  had  found  foothold  in  her  heart 
before  she  knew  it.  Of  course  she  dis- 
lodged the  intruder  at  once,  but  the 
irritation  that  remained  for  some  time 
afterward  was  like  that  which  follows  the 
sting  of  a  poisonous  insect. 

Kitty  Ingraham  was  a  girl  of  a  type 
that  is  by  no  means  uncommon  in  New 
York  now,  and  is,  I  am  glad  to  say,  ap- 
preciated at  its  true  worth  by  those  who 
are  fortunate  enough  to  become  familiar 
with  it.  There  were  not  many  girls  of 
her  class  in  the  town  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury ago,  and  those  that  did  exist  here 
then  were  looked  upon  as  "  queer  "  or  else 
"  advanced,"  which  was  considered  worse 
than  queer.  Her  natural  taste  for  the 
artistic  side  of  life  was  very  pronounced, 
and  had  been  developed  by  indiscrimi- 
361 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

nate  reading  and  intimate  association  with 
some  extremely  clever  girls.  By  the 
way,  what  a  difference  there  is  in  point 
of  brains  and  quickness  of  perception 
between  the  young  women  who  adorn 
New  York  society  and  the  men  with 
whom  they  associate ! 

Miss  Ingraham,  although  occupied  to  a 
great  extent  with  social  duties,  neverthe- 
less contrived  to  keep  pace  with  con- 
temporaneous art  and  letters,  and  there 
was  nothing  that  gave  her  greater  plea- 
sure than  to  make  the  acquaintance  of 
men  and  women  who  were  connected  in 
some  way  with  artistic  affairs. 

Under  better  conditions  than  those 
which  exist  in  the  social  circles  to  which 
she  belonged  she  would  have  been  able 
to  gratify  one  of  her  pet  ambitions  and 
become  an  acknowledged  leader  in  those 
fashionably  artistic,  literary,  and  intel- 
lectual circles  of  which  she  was  wont  to 
dream  in  her  waking  hours,  and  which 
362 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

she  firmly  believed  could  be  gathered  to- 
gether in  New  York.  That  is  to  say,  she 
believed  that  the  separate  particles  con- 
stituting such  circles  were  held  in  solu- 
tion in  the  rest  of  the  body  politic,  and 
needed  only  the  hand  of  some  skilled 
social  alchemist  to  precipitate  and  gather 
them  up  into  a  compact  mass. 

In  short,  she  longed  to  collect  about 
her  the  ingredients  which  constitute  a 
"  salon  " ;  and  in  her  pet  reveries  she  saw 
herself  moving  with  the  grace  and  com- 
mand of  a  queen  among  poets,  musicians, 
painters,  actors  and  actresses,  honored  by 
them  all,  the  acknowledged  center  of  all 
that  there  is  of  the  best  in  letters  and 
the  arts. 

Miss  Ingraham  was  not  the  first  woman 
who  has  dreamed  of  transplanting  from 
Paris  to  New  York  the  French  salon,  an 
institution  which  would  thrive  in  our 
artistic  climate  about  as  well  as  a  pine- 
apple would  in  Tompkins  Square.  The 
363 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

mere  fact  that  the  mistresses  of  the  Paris 
salons  are  able  to  fill  their  parlors  with 
celebrities  and  keep  them  there  for  an 
entire  evening  without  giving  them  any- 
thing to  drink  shows  that  our  own  intel- 
lectual and  artistic  society  is  far  more 
exacting  in  its  demands  than  that  of  the 
French  capital. 

Some  social  historian  of  New  York  will 
one  day  tell  the  story  of  the  different  at- 
tempts that  have  been  made  from  time 
to  time  by  clever  and  ambitious  women  to 
establish  here  a  salon  on  the  same  plan 
as  those  maintained  in  Paris  by  Mme.  de 
Stael,  Mme.  Adam,  and  their  kind.  These 
schemes  have  always  failed,  for  some  rea- 
son or  other — generally  because  the  wom- 
en who  projected  them  were  either  dazzled 
by  the  glare  of  fashion,  or  else  incapable 
of  distinguishing  between  true  fame  and 
mere  newspaper  notoriety.  The  quality  of 
the  liquor  served  in  many  of  these  salons 
has  in  more  than  one  instance  been  such 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

as  to  create  distrust  of  the  hostess  in  some 
of  the  brightest  minds  of  the  day. 

As  a  general  thing  the  New  York  De 
Stael  has  allowed  her  drawing-rooms  to 
become  choked  and  cluttered  up  with  the 
people  who  hang  about  the  skirts  of 
conventional  society — those  who  are  oc- 
casionally seen  at  the  very  large  enter- 
tainments of  the  rich  and  socially  influen- 
tial ;  on  the  strength  of  which  distinction 
they  talk  continually  about  their  "  society 
friends,"  and  mention  them  by  their  given 
names. 

Kitty  Ingraham,  although  one  of  the 
very  cleverest  girls  I  have  ever  known, 
and  one,  moreover,  who  had  been  too 
well  born  and  reared  to  be  fooled  by  false 
social  pretensions,  nevertheless  went  com- 
pletely astray  in  her  estimate  of  literary 
and  artistic  worth,  because  she  found  it 
impossible  to  divest  her  mind  of  the  idea 
that  it  had  some  sort  of  dependence  on  or 
connection  with  "  very  nice  people." 
365 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Nice  people !  I  wonder  how  many  of 
them  ever  crossed  the  path  of  Francois 
Villon,  except  the  priest  whom  he  robbed ! 
The  road  to  hell  is  paved  with  good  in- 
tentions, and  the  road  to  artistic  hell  is 
lined  four  deep  on  either  side  with  the 
very  nicest  sort  of  nice  people. 

Miss  Ingraham  possessed,  among  other 
notably  attractive  qualities,  one  that 
would  have  been  of  the  greatest  service 
to  her  had  she  ever  established  the  salon 
that  occupied  such  a  large  place  in  her 
waking  dreams.  She  had  a  genuine  in- 
terest in  art  and  letters,  an  interest  that 
showed  itself  instantly  in  the  brightening 
of  her  eyes  and  the  lighting  of  her  whole 
face  whenever  she  met  a  writer,  an  artist, 
or  an  actor. 

It  was  this  look  of  eager  interest,  ren- 
dered doubly  charming  because  it  was 
combined  with  one  of  approval,  that 
made  such  an  agreeable  impression  on 
Mr.  Freelance.  It  was  a  look  that  seemed 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

to  say  to  him,  "  I  am  glad  to  see  you,  be- 
cause there  are  lots  of  things  that  I  would 
like  to  ask  you  regarding  the  stage 
and  its  people.  It  must  be  fascinating 
to  know  so  many  actors  and  actresses, 
and,  besides,  I  find  you  decidedly  good- 
looking." 

"Cousin  Billy"  was  compelled  to  tell 
the  children  a  story  before  they  would 
permit  him  to  leave  the  nursery;  and 
Kitty,  leaning  back  in  the  luxurious 
depths  of  her  arm-chair  and  shading  her 
face  from  the  firelight  with  her  big  fan, 
watched  the  young  man  narrowly  as  he 
set  about  a  task  that  was  by  no  means 
irksome  to  him.  Mr.  Freelance  was  an 
excellent  nursery  raconteur,  and  he  found 
new  favor  in  the  young  girl's  eyes  as  he 
held  the  youngsters  spellbound  with  some 
clever  flight  of  fancy. 

"He  does  n't  look  as  if  he  could  care 
much  for  that  creature  at  the  theater. 
How  could  he,  when  he  is  so  fond  of 
367 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

little  children?"  she  said  to  herself  as 
she  watched  him.  She  had  made  up  her 
mind  that  Maude  was  a  "  creature,"  which 
is  only  another  word  for  "  hussy,"  the 
term  by  which  Mrs.  Dillenbeck  had  char- 
acterized her  years  before. 

A  glow  of  satisfaction  warmed  the 
young  man's  heart  as  he  seated  himself 
at  the  well-ordered  dinner-table,  with  his 
aunt  and  her  agreeable  young  guest  on 
either  side  of  him.  The  cloth  was  spot- 
less, the  glass  and  silver  had  been  pol- 
ished to  the  last  degree,  and  the  servant 
performed  his  duties  deftly  and  without 
noise. 

Only  a  man  who  has  been  hard  up 
knows  what  a  relief  it  is  to  spend  an 
occasional  evening  with  wealthy  people 
— not  for  the  material  benefit  that  is  to 
be  derived  from  them,  but  because  while 
in  their  society  he  will  not  be  continually 
reminded  of  his  own  poverty.  After 
the  terribly  depressing  struggle  through 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

which  the  young  manager  had  passed,  the 
atmosphere  of  Mrs.  Esmonde's  dining- 
room  was  a  positive  balm  to  his  feelings, 
and  he  resolved  that  in  the  future  he 
would  cultivate  his  aunt's  friendship 
much  more  assiduously  than  he  had  in 
the  past.  It  was  delightful  to  know  that 
so  long  as  he  remained  at  that  table  he 
would  hear  nothing  about  how  much 
something  had  cost,  or  how  much  money 
some  perfect  gentleman  had  "blown  in" 
in  the  course  of  a  single  evening,  or  how 
many  dollars'  worth  of  diamonds  had 
been  employed  in  the  bedizenment  of 
some  pretentious,  underbred  woman.  It 
was  even  a  relief  to  him  to  observe  that 
Mrs.  Esmonde  wore  very  little  jewelry  and 
Miss  In  graham  none  at  all,  although  both 
women  were  richly  and  beautifully  dressed. 
If  I  may  be  permitted  to  pause  here 
and  offer  a  word  of  counsel  to  the  am- 
bitious but  impecunious  young  man  who 
stands  on  the  threshold  of  life,  as  the 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Sunday-school  books  say,  it  would  be  to 
keep  on  good  terms,  if  possible,  with  a 
few  millionaires.  So  long  as  you  do  not 
try  to  borrow  money  from  them  or  to 
marry  their  daughters  you  will  find 
them,  on  the  whole,  easy-going  and  well- 
disposed  folk,  who  will  never  say  or  do 
anything  intended  to  remind  you  of  the 
cruel  fact  that  your  pockets  are  empty. 
In  other  circles  of  society  the  torn  coat, 
the  worn-out  shoe,  the  frayed  linen,  and 
other  familiar  indices  of  poverty  are 
liable  to  awaken  comment,  if  not  actual 
ridicule.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be 
said  that  the  scoffers  are  often  capable  of 
lending  you  money  with  which  to  renew 
your  wardrobe.  In  the  society  of  the 
wealthy,  however,  your  clothes  will  at- 
tract but  little  attention,  because  success- 
ful men  have  other  ways  of  judging  both 
purse  and  character.  But  do  not  be 
tempted  by  this  polite  consideration  to 
try  to  borrow  money  from,  or  to  make 

370 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

love  to  the  daughters  of,  these  million- 
aires. It  is  true  that  once  in  a  long  while 
a  daughter  of  Mammon  is  permitted  to 
marry  an  impecunious  young  man,  but 
my  experience  teaches  me  that  million- 
aires never  lend  any  money  except  to 
one  another.  From  this  we  may  gain  an 
idea  of  their  sense  of  relative  values,  and 
at  the  same  time  understand  why  it  is  that 
they  remain  plutocrats  even  when  bereft 
of  their  children.  In  common  with  the 
rest  of  humanity  they  possess  an  insatia- 
ble thirst  for  free  theater  tickets,  and  are 
always  glad  to  win  the  esteem  and  confi- 
dence of  those  who  are  in  a  position  to 
secure  them. 

There  are  not  many  situations  that  are 
more  agreeable  than  that  in  which  Mr. 
Freelance  found  himself  at  Mrs.  Es- 
monde's  table.  Of  course  there  are  some 
who  will  say  that  if  he  had  been  placed  at 
the  same  table  in  company  with  the  one 
woman  whom  he  loved  and  who  loved 
371 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

him,  instead  of  between  two  women  who 
merely  liked  him,  the  situation  would 
have  been  infinitely  more  agreeable  to 
him  and  interesting  to  the  reader.  This 
I  emphatically  deny.  I  cannot  change 
the  situation,  because  I  am  merely  relat- 
ing what  happened,  and  I  would  not  if  I 
could.  Not  only  was  it  a  genuine  plea- 
sure to  the  young  man  to  find  himself  in 
the  society  of  two  lovely  women,  neither 
one  of  whom  wanted  an  engagement  in 
his  company  or  a  puff  in  a  newspaper, 
but  it  was  also  delightful,  in  a  novel  way, 
to  speculate  vaguely  on  the  possibilities 
afforded  by  the  sort  of  liking  that  he  felt 
instinctively  was  springing  up  between 
himself  and  Kitty  Ingraham. 

It  has  been  the  fashion  in  the  trade  of 
cynicism  to  speak  sneeringly  of  woman's 
friendship  for  man.  Nevertheless  it  is 
an  affection  that  possesses  many  rare 
charms,  not  the  least  of  which  is  that  it 
seldom  degenerates  into  vituperation. 
372  • 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Mrs.  Esmonde's  guests  supplied  most  of 
the  talk  at  the  dinner-table  that  night, 
while  their  hostess  looked  on  and  listened 
with  amusement  and  pleasure  pictured  on 
her  face. 

"What  a  responsive,  sympathetic  girl !  " 
said  Freelance  to  himself. 

"What  can  such  a  bright,  intelligent 
fellow  see  to  admire  in  a  mere  creature 
like  that  actress,  with  her  photograph  in 
every  shop-window  in  town?"  was  the 
thought  that  persistently  forced  itself 
into  Kitty's  mind  as  she  listened  to  the 
theatrical  manager's  talk  about  some  of 
the  experiences  through  which  he  had 


It  was  after  seven  when  Mr.  Freelance 
rose  hurriedly  from  his  chair  and  started 
for  the  theater.  '*  I  've  had  a  beautiful 
time,  aunt,  and  you  can't  think  how  I 
hate  to  go  away,"  he  said,  earnestly. 
"You  need  n't  leave  here  till  eight,  for 
we  don't  ring  up  till  a  quarter  past.  I  '11 

24*  373 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

come  into  the  box  after  the  first  act  and 
find  out  what  you  think  of  my  star." 

"I  do  wish  that  William  would  spend 
more  of  his  time  with  such  nice  girls  as 
Kitty,"  said  Mrs.  Esmonde  to  herself  as 
she  watched  him,  thoughtfully  and  affec- 
tionately, till  the  door  closed  behind  him. 


374 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

"  I  SUPPOSE  that 's  what  may  truthfully 
be  called  fame,"  remarked  Mr.  Freelance 
as  he  stood  in  front  of  the  Jollity  Theater 
with  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the  two  three- 
sheet  posters  representing  Maude  Wheat- 
leigh  in  the  great  scene  of  her  thrilling 
war  drama.  "And  to-morrow  morning 
every  newspaper  in  the  town  will  tell  the 
story,  more  or  less  truthfully,  of  to-night's 
happenings.  I  think  it  's  the  rapidity 
with  which  a  reputation  can  be  made  that 
lures  so  many  people  into  the  theatrical 
business.  If  they  had  to  wait  for  Homer 
to  get  his  '  Iliad '  finished  and  into  print 
they  'd  lose  all  interest  in  the  game." 

Little  did  those  easy-going,  pleasure- 
seeking  people,  who  began  to  stream  into 
375 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

the  house  as  soon  as  the  doors  were 
thrown  open,  dream  of  the  difficulties  and 
obstacles  which  had  been  overcome  in 
order  that  those  wide-swinging  green 
baize  doors  might  be  thrown  back  to 
permit  them  to  enter.  Little  did  they 
imagine — these  men  and  women  whose 
imaginations  had  been  skilfully  fed  with 
the  dainty  flat,  the  rare  bric-a-brac,  the 
exquisite  Worth  costumes — that  at  that 
very  moment  a  knot  of  discontented  actors 
were  gathered  together  behind  the  scenes, 
seriously  discussing  the  propriety  of  mak- 
ing a  demand,  then  and  there,  for  their 
back  salaries;  that  the  box-office  was 
fortified  like  a  beleaguered  city,  and  that 
Mr.  Freelance  and  his  able  assistant  were 
prepared  to  guard  against  any  strategic 
movement  on  the  part  of  a  deputy  sheriff 
or  other  designing  person. 

The  house  had  been  "papered"  with 
wonderful  skill  and  ingenuity.    Mr.  Free- 
lance was  no  believer  in  the  common 
376 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

practice  of  giving  free  tickets  to  theatri- 
cal agents,  bartenders,  and  people  of  the 
class  who  swarm  up  and  down  Broadway 
every  afternoon.  The  very  presence  of 
such  people  in  a  theater,  he  argued,  in- 
dicated that  the  house  had  been  papered ; 
and,  besides,  the  regular  "  first-nighters," 
as  they  are  usually  termed,  were  a  blase, 
discontented  lot  who  always  found  fault 
with  the  play,  the  star,  the  company,  and 
chiefly  with  the  manager  who  admitted 
them,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  express 
their  opinions  loudly  in  the  lobby  be- 
tween the  acts,  and  in  the  different  public 
resorts  of  the  city  the  following  day. 

Mr.  Freelance  had  been  at  work  for  a 
fortnight  previous  to  the  opening,  distrib- 
uting tickets  in  blocks  of  five,  and  in 
some  cases  of  twelve,  among  different 
young  people  of  his  acquaintance  who 
dwelt  in  such  remote  places  as  Brooklyn, 
Orange,  and  Newark.  The  result  was 
that  the  seats  thus  given  away  in  blocks 

377 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

were  occupied  by  "  theater-parties  "  com- 
posed of  well-dressed  young  men  and 
bright,  pretty  girls  carrying  bouquets, 
and  looking  for  all  the  world  like  mem- 
bers of  the  highest  aristocracy. 

The  society  reporters  and  critics,  some 
of  whom  did  not  appear  until  the  close  of 
the  first  act,  looked  about  them  for  the 
familiar  faces  which  were  never  missed 
on  a  first  night,  and  not  seeing  them,  but 
in  their  stead  a  dozen  large  parties  of 
young  people  in  festal  array,  concluded 
that  it  was  what  is  termed  a  "money 
house,"  and  their  respect  for  Miss  Wheat- 
leigh  and  the  play  rose  accordingly. 

To  the  dozens  of  professionals  and  bar- 
room loafers  who  applied  for  admittance, 
Mr.  Freelance  gave  the  stereotyped  an- 
swer, "  Sorry  to  refuse  you,  dear  boy," —  or 
"  dear  girl,"  as  the  case  might  be, — "  but 
there  's  not  a  seat  left,  and  we  've  turned 
money  away  already.  If  you  want  to 
go  in  and  stand  up,  you  '11  have  to  see 

378 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Hardup,  and  perhaps  he  '11  pass  you.  I 
know  he  has  refused  everybody  so  far." 

Great  was  the  grumbling  and  profanity 
in  the  lobby  in  consequence  of  Mr.  Free- 
lance's  firmness,  and  great  was  the  sur- 
prise in  the  cafes  and  saloons  to  which 
these  people  repaired,  when  they  made 
known  the  fact  that  the  whole  town  had 
turned  out  to  see  that  girl  of  Dolly  Dillen- 
beck's,  and  that  all  the  old  rounders  had 
been  "  turned  down  "  at  the  door. 

But  for  the  regular  critics,  the  society 
reporters,  and  other  members  of  the  press, 
besides  a  few  managers  of  importance,  Mr. 
Freelance  had  a  ready  smile  and  a  cordial 
hand-shake.  He  was  well  known  to  most 
of  the  critics,  and  very  generally  liked  be- 
cause of  his  tact,  good  nature,  and  un- 
failing good  breeding.  Some  of  the  lead- 
ing critics  were  glad  to  stop  to  have  a  few 
words  with  him,  and  to  each  one  of  these 
he  made  what  he  called  "  a  special  plea 
for  mercy  for  my  unfortunate  client, 
379 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Miss  Maude  Wheatleigh,  who  now  stands 
before  the  bar  of  public  opinion." 

As  for  Mr.  Hustle,  he  took  no  part  in 
the  ceremonies  incident  to  Maude's  New 
York  debut,  and  while  his  business  mana- 
ger was  attending  to  a  thousand  neces- 
sary details  in  the  lobby  and  on  the  stage, 
he  sat,  in  company  with  Mr.  Hardup,  in 
the  back  room  of  a  near-by  saloon,  safe 
from  the  intrusion  of  process-servers,  and 
in  constant  communication,  through  a 
trusted  messenger,  with  Mr.  Freelance. 

The  latter,  passing  through  the  mana- 
ger's box  to  the  region  behind  the  scenes, 
came  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  upon 
the  convention  of  discontented  mummers, 
and  stopped  short  to  address  them. 

"I  want  to  tell  you  something,  my 
friends,"  he  said,  speaking  very  calmly. 
but  with  a  note  of  determination  in  his 
voice  which  at  once  arrested  their  atten- 
tion. "  This  is  the  night  that  we  've  all 
of  us  been  working  and  waiting  for  for 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

months.  It  is  the  night  that  will  decide 
whether  we  are  to  sink  or  swim.  I  know 
that  you  're  behind  on  the  salary  question, 
but  that  's  not  my  fault,  and  it  's  not 
Miss  Wheatleigh's  fault,  either.  There  're 
five  hundred  dollars  in  the  box-office 
now  and  there  's  a  line  that  reaches  out 
to  the  sidewalk.  I  've  got  plenty  to  do  in 
front  to-night,  as  you  can  imagine ;  but 
I  shall  have  my  eyes  on  the  stage,  and  I 
take  my  solemn  oath  that  of  the  money 
that  is  to  be  divided  to-morrow  not  one 
cent  will  go  to  anybody  who  misses  a  cue, 
puts  in  a  line  not  written  by  the  author, 
keeps  the  stage  waiting,  or  gives  a  per- 
formance that  is  in  any  way  below  high' 
water  mark." 

Having  thus  delivered  himself,  Mr- 
Freelance  proceeded  rapidly  to  the  star 
dressing-room,  where  he  found  Maude  in 
a  much  more  nervous  condition  than  she 
had  been  on  the  night  of  her  Albany  debut. 

"How  is  it  in  front,  Billy?"  she  asked 
381 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

anxiously.  "  I  do  hope  that  the  orchestra 
has  n't  struck  yet,  and  that  you  fixed  that 
dreadful  printer  and  coaxed  the  company 
into  going  on.  You  know  I  've  been  so 
worried  and  bothered  with  all  this  trouble 
we  've  had  that  I  feel  more  like  sitting 
down  on  the  floor  and  crying  than  going 
out  on  that  stage  and  acting." 

"My  dear,"  replied  the  other,  as  he 
placed  his  hand  gently  on  her  bare  white 
shoulder,  "everything  is  all  right,  and 
everybody  is  satisfied  and  contented. 
Stop  thinking  about  your  troubles,  and 
simply  do  your  best  and  look  your  pretti- 
est. I  have  as  much  to  do  in  front  as 
you  have  on  the  stage." 

Of  course  all  the  members  of  the  St. 
Anthony  House  brigade  had  free  seats 
on  this  important  occasion.  Mr.  Free- 
lance greeted  each  one  with  great  cordial- 
ity, knowing  well  that  they  could  be 
depended  on  for  timely  and  vigorous  ap- 
plause. They  inquired,  with  thirst  written 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

all  over  their  faces,  how  soon  Mr.  Dillen- 
beck  was  expected,  and  were  glad  to  learn 
that  he  could  be  looked  for  before  the 
close  of  the  first  act. 

"He  'a  particularly  anxious  to  see  all 
you  gentlemen,"  said  the  business  man- 
ager, suavely,  "  for  I  think  he  'a  got  a 
little  surprise  in  store  for  you." 

Then  he  turned  away  to  greet  a  dra- 
matic critic  whom  he  knew,  told  the  pro- 
gram-boy to  keep  his  eye  on  a  suspicious- 
looking  character  who  looked  as  if  he 
might  be  the  emissary  of  a  printer,  and 
promised  a  hawk-like  Hebrew  costumer 
fifty  on  account  the  next  morning,  if  he 
would  only  "  go  away  and  not  queer  the 
show  by  shoving  his  ugly  beak  into  the 
box-office  every  five  minutes." 

At  the  close  of  the  second  act  the  house 
rose  with  enthusiasm,  in  which  General 
"Whiffletree  and  the  other  genials  joined  , 
with  sanguine  heartiness,  for  they  still 
believed  that  Dolly  would  be  present  to 
383 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

pour  foaming  wine  down  their  parched 
throats.  They  were  mopping  their  brows 
when  they  came  out  into  the  lobby. 

"It  's  a  very  queer  thing,"  said  Free- 
lance, mysteriously,  as  he  gathered  them 
together  in  a  corner,  "  but  Mr.  Dillenbeck 
can't  be  found  anywhere ;  and  it  's  very 
unlucky  for  me,  because  he  made  elaborate 
preparations  for  entertaining  his  friends 
here  to-night.  You  know  what  sort  of  a 
man  he  is  ? " 

The  genials  swore  with  hoarse  oaths 
that  of  all  large-hearted,  jovial  gentlemen 
and  wine-openers,  Dolly  Dillenbeck  was 
the  king. 

"  Then,"  continued  Mr.  Freelance,  "  you 
may  readily  believe  that  he  intended  to 
surpass  himself  to-night.  He  ordered,  a 
week  ago,  a  supper  at  one  of  the  principal 
hotels  in  the  town,  and  never  told  me 
what  hotel  it  was.  There  's  that  supper 
waiting  now,  the  wine  in  the  cooler,  and 
the  favors  lying  at  each  plate." 

384 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"  Favors !  "  gasped  Dolly's  friends  in 
chorus.  "What  do  you  mean  by  that?" 

"  Why,"  rejoined  Mr.  Freelance,  looking 
at  the  eager,  haggard  faces  before  him, 
"this  is  his  birthday,  and  he  intended 
to  give  every  one  of  his  guests  a  little 
souvenir  of  the  occasion — some  little 
trifle  like  a  gold  watch  or  a  diamond 
scarf-pin — some  little  thing  like  that,  be- 
cause he  does  n't  stop  at  anything  in  the 
way  of  spending  money,  you  know." 

"  Great  God !  "  cried  Mr.  Rungdown, 
hoarsely,  "can't  the  man  be  found  any- 
where ? " 

"  We  've  hunted  everywhere,"  exclaimed 
Freelance,  earnestly,  "and  I  'm  afraid 
that  he  's  sent  a  message  here  which  has 
failed  to  reach  us,  been  lost  or  mislaid,  or 
something.  He  's  not  at  his  hotel,  he  ;s 
not  at  the  St.  Anthony  House,  and  he  's 
not  here.  I  think  if  you  gentlemen  were 
to  take  a  stroll  up  Broadway  as  far  as 
Fiftieth  Street  and  downtown  to  Four- 

25  385 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

teenth,  you  'd  find  him  somewhere.  I 
know  the  supper  is  ordered,  for  I  saw  him 
making  out  the  list  of  wines,  and  you  'd 
think  from  the  quantity  that  he  put  down 
that  he  was  going  to  entertain  a  regiment." 

The  genials  instantly  started  on  the 
search,  General  Whiffletree  and  Judge 
Doonothing  turning  their  faces  to  the 
north,  and  the  others  spreading  them- 
selves like  a  skirmishing  party  so  as  to 
reach  all  important  strategic  points  to 
the  east,  west,  and  south  as  quickly  as 
possible.  The  manager  watched  them 
until  they  were  out  of  sight,  and  then 
went  up  to  pay  his  respects  to  his  aunt 
and  Miss  Ingraham  in  the  upper  box. 

"  I  think  she 's  charming,  William,"  ex- 
claimed Mrs.  Esmonde,  enthusiastically, 
as  her  nephew  dropped  into  a  chair  by 
her  side. 

"  And  what  do  you  think  of  my  star  ? " 
he  said  to  Miss  Ingraham. 

"I  think  she  is  very  clever  and  very 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

pretty  indeed,"  she  replied,  turning  upon 
him  a  searching  look  from  the  depths  of 
her  clear,  truthful  gray  eyes.  "At  any 
rate,  she  looks  as  if  she  were  a  wonder- 
fully sympathetic  woman.  Do  tell  me 
how  many  men  have  fallen  in  love  with 
her,  and  whether  she  has  fallen  in  love 
with  anybody  herself." 

"  There  's  one  man,"  replied  Freelance, 
"  who  was  sufficiently  in  love  with  her  to 
put  her  on  the  stage,  spend  a  lot  of 
money  on  her,  and  finally  marry  her,  all 
of  which  is  a  good  deal  for  a  man  to  do 
for  one  woman." 

Kitty  Ingraham  was  ashamed  of  the 
sudden  sense  of  relief  and  exaltation 
which  the  young  man's  words  gave  to 
her,  and  all  at  once  she  found  herself 
feeling  much  more  cordially  toward  Miss 
Wheatleigh,  who  was,  she  admitted,  an 
extremely  brilliant  and  beautiful  woman, 
and  was  undoubtedly  a  good  wife  to  the 
man  who  had  done  so  much  for  her. 
387 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

"I  just  seen  a  couple  of  deputies  go 
round  to  the  stage  door,"  said  the  pro- 
gram-boy, in  a  low  whisper,  as  he  drew 
Mr.  Freelance  out  of  the  box;  and  then 
the  manager  excused  himself  to  the  ladies 
and  disappeared,  the  curtain  went  up,  and 
Miss  Ingraham  found  herself  enjoying 
the  third  act  far  more  thoroughly  than 
she  had  the  previous  ones. 

Maude  Wheatleigh's  success  that  night 
was  a  repetition,  on  a  larger  scale,  and  on 
a  much  surer  footing,  of  that  which  she 
achieved  in  Albany  the  year  before.  Her 
great  scene  in  the  third  atet  raised  her 
audience  to  a  tremendous  pitch  of  en- 
thusiasm, which  did  not  need  the  exer- 
tions of  Whifnetree  and  the  rest  to  make 
it  effective.  It  was  after  this  act  that 
one  of  the  shrewdest  managers  in  the 
country  strolled  carelessly  up  to  Mr.  Free- 
lance in  the  lobby,  and  said,  in  a  low 
tone,  "  Has  Hustle  got  a  cast-iron,  copper- 
riveted  contract  with  that  woman  ? " 

388 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

And  Mr.  Freelance,  knowing  well  the 
full  import  of  his  words,  and  all  that  they 
signified,  coming  as  they  did  from  him, 
replied,  "  I  should  rather  think  he  had ;  I 
helped  to  draw  it  up  myself." 

And  then  two  or  three  critics  came  out, 
putting  on  their  overcoats,  on  the  way 
downtown  to  finish  their  night's  work; 
and  one  of  these  stopped  and  said,  "  Billy, 
I  think  that  woman  will  catch  the  town." 

Mr.  Freelance  stood  in  the  lobby,  smil- 
ing affably  upon  the  people  as  they 
streamed  out  of  the  theater.  He  always 
made  it  a  practice  on  first  nights  to 
stand  by  the  gate  and  look  confident  and 
happy,  no  matter  what  his  private  feelings 
might  be. 

Mrs.  Esmonde  and  Miss  Ingraham 
stopped  to  speak  to  him,  and  he  went 
with  them  to  their  carriage. 

"  Come  home  with  us  and  have  some 
supper,"  said  his  aunt.  But  he  shook  his 
head.  He  had  a  great  deal  to  do,  he 
389 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

said,  before  he  could  leave  the  theater. 
He  would  call  soon,  though,  for  he  had 
not  had  such  a  pleasant  dinner  for  a  long 
time.  He  was  sorry  he  had  promised  to 
— to — attend  to  some  matters  of  business 
that  night,  for  he  would  be  delighted  to 
have  some  supper  with  them  and  learn 
exactly  what  they  thought  of  the  whole 
performance — star,  play,  and  all — in  de- 
tail. The  only  opinions  that  were  worth 
anything,  he  thought,  were  those  of  people 
who  belonged  to  the  paying  public.  An 
actor's  views  were  worthless.  And  then 
he  hastily  bade  them  good-night,  told  the 
coachman  "home,"  and  returned  to  his 
place  in  the  lobby. 

Maude  Wheatleigh  was  waiting  for 
him,  dressed,  and  with  her  cloak  lying  on 
the  trunk  beside  her,  when  he  tapped  at 
her  dressing-room  door.  She  was  nervous 
and  excited,  and  her  eyes  sparkled  as  she 
greeted  him. 

"  You  've  been  more  than  any  one  to  me, 

390 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

Billy,"  she  said  wistfully,  as  she  pressed 
his  hand  between  her  two  gloved  ones. 

"  We  'd  better  go  right  along  if  you  7re 
ready,"  he  remarked  carelessly. 

As  they  stood  at  the  corner  of  Broadway 
waiting  for  the  cable-car,  Senator  Hard- 
scrabble  loomed  up  out  of  the  autumn 
mists,  and  said  in  dry,  hopeless  accents, 
"Have  n't  seen  anything  of  that  party 
yet,  have  you?" 

"Not  yet,"  replied  the  manager,  gravely. 
"I  ;m  beginning  to  get  anxious  about 
him." 

Maude  chattered  incessantly  on  the  way 
home,  but  her  companion  paid  scant  at- 
tention to  what  she  said.  Kitty  Ingraham, 
with  her  high-bred  face,  her  exquisite 
smile,  and  her  honest  gray  eyes,  and  poor 
demented  Dolly  Dillenbeck  were  in  his 
thoughts  now,  and  would  not  be  driven 
out.  Maude  wondered  with  suspicious 
fear  why  he  was  so  absent-minded. 

"  Come  in  and  have  some  supper,"  she 
391 


DOLLY  DILLENBECK 

said  persuasively,  as  they  stood  on  the 
steps  of  the  apartment-house  in  which  she 
had  taken  rooms  when  she  left  the  ex- 
pensive hotel  to  which  Dolly  had  taken 
her  after  their  marriage. 

"No,  I  think  I  '11  go  home;  I  'm  very 
tired,"  replied  Freelance,  with  a  note  of 
hesitation  and  uncertainty  in  his  voice 
that  did  not  escape  her  keen  attention. 

"Then  good-night.  I  'm  sorry  you 
won't  stop,"  she  said,  holding  eut  her 
hand. 

But  instead  of  taking  it  he  stood  irreso- 
lutely on  the  step  below  her,  looking  far 
up  the  street,  and  apparently  weighing 
possibilities  and  probabilities  in  his  mind. 

"Good-night,"  she  repeated,  speaking 
with  infinite  gentleness  and  tenderness. 

But  he  still  stood  there,  irresolute,  un- 
certain of  himself. 

THE   END. 


A     000  031  388     2 


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